• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Sugarcane farmer Patrick Miguel Montilla has withdrawn his candidacy for board member of the fifth district of Negros Occidental due to personal reasons.
In a statement, Montilla said he filed a sworn statement of cancellation/withdrawal in accordance with Section 73 of the Omnibus Election Code before the Commission on Elections Provincial Office on Jan. 29.
He pointed out that he earlier decided to run in the May 12 elections to help the sugar industry, especially the contracted farm workers, through legislation.
“Workers transfer from one farm to the next, without finishing their contracts because they are not receiving full compensation from their contractors,” Montilla said.
He added that in the end, planters are left with their standing canes looking for cutters from outside the province, paying higher rates even after paying cash advances to the contractors.
“Worse, both planters and workers have no adequate and effectual legal recourse to run after the contractors,” Montilla said.
He also cited the lack of support from the government that makes it easy for unscrupulous individuals to exploit agrarian reform beneficiaries.
Montilla said he has been exploring other opportunities which led him to alternative avenues that “might even provide a faster and more efficient way of realizing this goal to initiate and enact provincial legislation for road safety and protecting the sugar industry” without being elected as provincial board member. | GB
