As part of the Peasant Month celebration, Ating Lakbay-Aral sa Magsasaka (ALAM) was held on October 4–5. This educational immersion brought together workers from Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corp. (SM PSACC-NAFLU-KMU), Pambato Cargo Forwarder Labor Union (PCFLU-LAND KMU), and cultural workers from Tambisan sa Sining.
Organized by the Felixberto Olalia Sr. School in partnership with the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, ALAM aims to strengthen worker-peasant unity through the sharing of campaigns, immersion, and participation in farm work.
In Plaridel, Bulacan, participants lived and worked with farmers for two days. They witnessed first-hand the severe land problems faced by farmworkers, most of whom do not own land and survive by selling a fraction of the harvest of landowners. With palay (unmilled rice) selling for only ₱8–₱10 per kilo, farmworkers are plunged into debt. Farmlands are shrinking, and many have lost their livelihoods to land grabbing by large corporations building factories.
With no land, many farmworkers and their families are forced into nearby factories with low wages, unsafe working conditions, no job security, and no benefits.
Fueled by their immersion, the port workers are determined to return to Plaridel to deepen their understanding of peasant issues, stand in solidarity with farmworkers, and support the fight for land and dignified living.
KMU and the Felixberto Olalia Sr. School commends the workers for the success of ALAM.