Katipunan ng mga Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan (KASAMA-TK, or Alliance of Peasant Associations in Southern Tagalog), Magsasaka at Siyentipiko para sa Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura (MASIPAG, or Peasants and Scientists for Agricultural Progress), the National Network of Agrarian Reform Advocates-Youth (NNARA-Youth), and other sectors protested at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, Laguna on April 13 to denounce the institution’s continuing exploitation of farmers and its anti-people use of university land. The institution marked its 66th founding anniversary on April 4.

The groups screened a film tackling IRRI’s history and its ties to the US imperialist agenda. They then marched to IRRI’s main gate.

They said IRRI’s supposed mandate to address poverty and hunger is bogus. The institution’s projects are actually backward and unaffordable for small farmers. Worse, these projects serve the interests of multinational and transnational corporations.

The groups demanded the junking of Presidential Decree 1620, which grants IRRI vast privileges and control over lands it occupies in the country—contrary to the interests and rights of farmers.

The protest also highlighted the people’s continuing issues, including the oil crisis and the burdens imposed by neoliberal education policies such as the 4-day work week, among others.