Japan for Negros Committee Campaign
111st, Greenplains Subdivision
Bacolod City, Negros Occidental
Philippines
Tel: 63 34 434 2671 [o]
Mob: 63 916 442 7362
Fax: 63 34 434 2671
E-mail: seiko@mozcom.com
Based in Southern Philippines, Seiko is Coordinator of the Asian Rural Alternatives, a network of Asian rural women for food security and sustainable agriculture. Seiko has spent over 9 years in the Philippines and is liaison officer for the Japan Committee for Negros Campaign. A board member of the People’s Plan Study Group, she works primarily on issues gender-related and rural women’s issues, agrarian reform and development, peace-related issues, youth empowerment, local governance and people’s participation.
Seiko settled down in the Philippines in 1994 and started working as liaison between local farmers’ cooperatives and Japanese consumer organizations in the materialization of alternative trade on organic bananas and brown sugar. In 1997, Seiko concentrated more on writing about the people’s lives by facilitating several people exchange program between the Japanese and the local people from Negros and Cebu.
In 2000, she successfully organized the Asian Regional Farmers’ gathering that brought together peoples from 10 countries in Northeast Thailand and thus, officially launched the Asian Rural Alternatives. Aside from regional work, she continues to write articles, columns and report for Japanese magazines and facilitate people exchange programmes and rural women’s workshops.
Seiko was a member of the ARENA Executive Board, 1994 – 1997 and was re-elected for the Executive Board 2003 – 2006.