Filipino farmer pleads ‘Stop US-Iran War’ after soaring fuel prices wipe out earnings

Philippine farmer Elmer Ullani spells out “Stop US-Iran War” with his cabbages after having to spend almost all of the money he had earned at the market to pay for the fuel needed to get him there and back.

Photo: Facebook / Elmer Ullani After a seven-hour drive to a trading post in northern Philippines, 35-year-old farmer Elmer Ullani took home nothing but an empty petrol tank even after selling 10 tonnes of cabbage.

Ullani, who hails from the northern town of Tinoc in Ifugao province, said he only managed to sell his produce – yielded over three harvest rounds – at a paltry rate of 8 to 9 pesos (15 US cents) per kilogram, earning him a total of 90,000 pesos (US$1,482).

All of his earnings went towards covering his fuel expenses and a capital of 200,000 pesos. “During my first harvest, all the money I earned went to fuel.

Diesel has become very expensive here,” Ullani told This Week in Asia.

With diesel now costing 125 pesos per litre in his remote town, Ullani spent about 8,750 pesos on 70 litres of diesel to haul his harvest to the trading post. “I don’t even have any left to pay those who helped harvest the crops,” he said.

The distressing experience prompted Ullani to spell out a striking sign using his produce: “Stop US-Iran War”.

The sign on the side of Ullani’s truck is both a protest and a cry for help, highlighting how skyrocketing fuel prices in the Philippines have begun affecting other sectors, particularly agriculture.

The photo was shared by Rural Rising Philippines, a non-profit initiative that helps distressed farmers sell their produce through fair trade and connects them directly to buyers.

The Philippines imports about 90 per cent of its oil, leaving it highly exposed to global price shocks that feed directly into transport and food costs, according to a recent report by Dutch financial institution ING.

ING’s report said the Philippines could see a stronger hit in inflation from the impact of higher oil prices, as rising logistics and transport expenses fed into consumer prices. “Our capital didn’t come from the government.

It came from us.

It feels like the government doesn’t really care since they didn’t invest in what we planted,” Ullani said, adding that he hoped that someone would take notice of their plight.

Many are facing similar challenges.

A farmer and social media content creator who calls himself Torogi Blue lamented that fine local produce was being left to rot by the roadside. “Farmers are at a huge loss beca

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