PH Corn Traders As Raiders Of The Lost Art Of The Covenant – IMPact As Response

Traders are taking advantage of farmers, as always. 

Jasper Y Arcalas says, "Traders Offer Lower Prices For Luzon Corn" (05 July 2019, BusinessMirror, businessmirror.com.ph). Before this development, corn farmers in Cauayan City in Isabela had rushed to thresh their corn harvest to take advantage of the good weather," and now in their own rush, corn traders "have slashed their buying prices following the government's proposal to import corn."

You can't win against traders, can you?

The Philippine Maize Federation, PhilMaize says corn growers in Northern Luzon "are now complaining of falling farm-gate prices."

Is the DA and/or PhilMaize moving to protect the corn farmers against the crash of falling corn prizes impossible? Absolutely not!

Relevantly, I'm reading the coffee-table book titled The Filipino Farmer Is Bankable, subtitled Celebrating 25 Years Of The ACPC, 8.5"x11" trim size & 150 pages, that I authored & produced for the Agricultural Credit & Policy Council, which is under the DA, published in 2012 when Jovita Corpuz was Executive Director. On page 45 appear 4 photographs (my shots) and superimposed on them are the words:

As a good model, assisted by the ACPC, the Kalasag coop of small farmers learned to handle credit well in the growing and handling of a crop, in this case white onion.

Not written in that book but since I was the one who visited Kalasag in San Jose City, I know how the farmers protected themselves from the climate changes of the market – Kalasag had marketing contracts, covenants, with institutional buyers like Jollibee and hotels, prices firmed up in the contracts themselves.

Why have not the brains of PhilMaize thought of marketing contracts? With each willing consumer, the federation should be the one initiating what I call here an Inclusive Marketing Pact, IMPact, pactbeing an agreement between 2 parties for their common welfare, in this case between corn farmers and interested bulk buyers.

Inadvertently, the necessity of the contract was in fact demonstrated to me when I signed the ACPC contract to produce that Silver Anniversary coffee-table book on late February 2012 and I had to deliver printed copies of the book on or before 25 April 2012 in time for the celebration of the 25th year of the ACPC! The amount was in black & white: P1 M with which to pay me and the 500 copies of the book I had to deliver. 2 months and I did it! I was Author, Editor, Photographer, Layout Artist (I used a desktop publishing app) all rolled into one. I delivered, and the ACPC delivered.

A contract is a covenant. An art we have lost.

The day after the Silver Anniversary celebration of ACPC, i wrote, "Book #7: The Old Man and the C. Or, How to Produce a Coffee-Table Book in 8 Weeks," which was published by the American Chronicle – that online mag has since died but I have a copy in my personal blog, Frank A Hilario (frankahilario.blogspot.com).

I Producer was protected by that covenant; so was Consumer ACPC.517