(KEITH BACONGCO/ MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Almost a hundred farmers from Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Quezon, and Rizal went to Manila to hold a dialogue with the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and seek resolution to long-standing land disputes covering thousands of hectares of productive agricultural lands which they charged as having been taken over by individuals, companies and government corporation.
The farmers started their protest action by marching from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to the DAR office in Quezon City. They also went to the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and Camp Crame.
Published January 18, 2021, 5:47 PM
Farmers and agricultural workers will march to Mendiola, Manila on January 22 to speak out on issues surrounding land grabbing, land-use conversion, and killings of farmer leaders.
The Kilusang Mabubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and Anakpawis, among other peasant groups, are those taking their protest to the streets in commemoration of Mendiola Massacre, which has become the symbol of their fight for land reform.
Friday will be the 34th anniversary of the peaceful mobilization on Mendiola Street that turned into a bloody dispersal claiming the lives of 13 farmers.
“Then and now, farmers have been demanding for land reform and free land distribution. The situation of Filipino peasants when they marched from Central Luzon to Mendiola in 1987 remains unchanged, and even worse this 2021,” KMP chair Danilo Ramos said.