RP farmers dump rotten eggplants

RP farmers dump rotten eggplants

MANILA (Reuter): Angry farmers dumped sacks of rotten corn,
bananas and eggplants outside the Philippine Senate yesterday,
demanding the assembly reject the GATT world trade accord.

"This is what will happen to us. All our produce will rot if
the treaty is ratified," a rally leader shouted as he and dozens
of other protesters emptied the sacks onto the Senate driveway.

President Fidel Ramos is pushing for ratification of the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade treaty, saying it will
boost the export trade.

Many farm groups say the accord will kill them because it will
swamp the domestic market with a flood of cheaper imported farm
products.

The protesters shoved the rotten produce back into sacks
before they dispersed to avoid being charged with littering.