Savannah!

I could easily discern the frenetic developments in Iloilo through the many infrastructures - roads, buildings, bridges, etc. - currently under construction. But with the developments are some changes in the suburban make-up that could be somehow unsettling. I am referring to the number of subdivisions that dot the periphery of the city. The sprawling subdivisions with their impressive entrances, clubhouses, and model houses were some sights to behold. But I've always wondered at the price Ilonggos have to pay, not for the residential lots inside these subdivisions, but for the displaced farmers and the agricultural produce lost in the hundreds of hectares of arable lands, some irrigated, turned residential. How many tons of rice have been lost in the name of development?

I remember the years when I was an undergraduate student. When I went home from Iloilo City to my mother's house on weekends, I could see the fields beside the highway bursting with rice during the rainy season, and with watermelon and tomatoes during the summer months. The fields were awashed with the colors of the crops the farmers were planting.

Not anymore! Now, the fields previously colored with the produce of the local farmers are gone. There are now colors of the flaglets to mark the frontage of the subdivisions. And the palatial houses within are colorful indeed.

Herewith is an article I've seen in the newpaper Malaya, which tackles the issue of an agricultural land turned into a subdivision. I am interested in this article because it speaks of Savanah, a high-end subdivision in Iloilo, and its owner/developer, a presidential aspirant. Please click on the title to jump to the Malaya article.

A place called Savannah... by Lito Banayo

Here are the YouTube videos mentioned in the article. The videos purportedly documents the acquisition and conversion of prime agricultural lands into the present day Savannah subdivision.




If you happen to get inside Savannah, would you marvel at the wealth of the owners of the big houses? Or would you look over the perimeter walls and see if the houses of the displaced farmers are still standing? Or would you wonder whether the drainage that serves the subdivision's residents are actually irrigation canals that were meant to serve the farmers and help them make Iloilo a rice granary of the country? @