Author Topic: Bohol Farmers Demand Tax Amnesty For Damaged Farms  (Read 880 times)

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Bohol Farmers Demand Tax Amnesty For Damaged Farms
« on: January 05, 2008, 10:29:11 AM »
By Rey Anthony Chiu
Bohol - PIA

Feeling duped by the irrigation services they were supposed to get, while losing the precious top-soil of their once productive farmlands, hard-pressed farmers within the promised catchment areas of Bohol mega-dams demand tax amnesty as the tax year 2008 opens.

This came as the tax year 2008 looms and with the reality the National Irrigation Administration have allegedly taken over farms without due process due to failure to pay irrigation service fees (ISF).

The National Irrigation Administration collects 300 kgs per hectare per year in ISF, even to serviced farmlands which are less than a hectare, farmers revealed. 

“Sobra na,” farmers complained as their once productive farmlands planted with cassava, sweet potatoes, coconuts and vegetable patches, have been bulldozed for better irrigation service.

Now, farmer not only lost their land’s productivity, they also are made to pay for the same taxes for the otherwise unproductive farms.

This and a Pandora’s Box of issued squirmed out as farmers affected by the Bohol Irrigation Project Phases 1 and 2 gathered recently in Ubay for the Bohol People Conference on Dams to dialog with government agencies concerned. 

Other issues included damages to crops even beyond the irrigation areas’ capacity, lost land fertility due to land leveling, insufficient irrigation service, added burden due to irrigation service fee collections apart from undetermined environmental destruction, farmers presented during the workshops.

Gathered to air issues and resolve whatever can be done, mitigate on the damages as well as hold similar impending  projects to abate possible corruption and placate on transparecny regarding other governmenty infratructure projects, the conference also called the presence of key government officials.

Sensing a shun from government functionaries including key National Irrigation Administration officials, who, they alleged as having hands in the cookie jar on the dams, the farmers have also asked sectoral representative Teodoro Casiño and the Bohol Congressmen Edgar Chatto, Roberto Cajes and Adam Relson Jala to dialog with them.

Only Chatto however politely declined the invitation due to another pressing appointment.  Most of the invitees either sent representatives or were no-shows in the gathering.
The construction of irrigation dams was projected to boost agricultural productivity in northeast Bohol.

“These dam projects are also intended to improve the farmers’ living standards, to increase employment opportunity and to contribute to the development of the rural socio-economic conditions, basically to help alleviate the poverty condition among peasants”, intoned Ruben Sobior of the Hugpong sa mga Bol-anong Mag-uuma (HUMABOL) while stating the conference rationale.

”Rehabilitating the land has become a priority over the rationed water from the irrigation services,” raised an irrigation beneficiary belonging to the Humabol group.

Humabol, an umbrella organization of the Kilusan ng mga Magbubukid sa Pilipinas was the conference convenor, while Kinabuhi facilitated the proceedings.

For them, the taxation and the ISF have become additional burdens as farm inputs are now more important than the fees, Malinao and Bayongan farmers claim.


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