The choices Filipino farmers make
By JUSTIN UMALI
SANTA ROSA, Laguna – Rommy Torres is a farmer in Sitio Compra, Barangay San Mateo, Norzagaray, Bulacan. He was a quiet man who cultivated bananas and other root crops.
Last year, agents from Royal Moluccan Realty Holdings, inc. fenced off 75.5 ha. of disputed land and separated farmers like Torres from their crops. RMRHI has tried to stake its claim to the land since 1998, but the farmers have lived there since the 1950s.
Last February 3, Torres entered the fence to harvest his bananas. He failed to return home that day, and was found stuffed in a drum in Mabitac, Laguna, some 100 km away. He was 52 years old.
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One hundred years of struggle in Hacienda Yulo
By JUSTIN UMALI
SANTA ROSA, Laguna Dorotea Mangubat watched silently as her family’s home was being burned down. She could do nothing but clutch a statue of the Sto. Niño; the only possession she managed to salvage from inside. Had the armed guards had their way, Dorotea would’ve burned inside the house with her Sto. Niño statue.
The January 23 arson incident was only another episode in a long month of violence gripping sitio Buntog in barangay Canlubang, Calamba, Laguna. Reports from Buntog read out like a warzone: armed guards employed by Seraph Security have blocked residents like Dorotea from entering or exiting Buntog, turning their community into an internment camp.
Published January 28, 2021, 2:46 PM
A human rights group said Thursday it is alarmed by the continuous attacks on peasant workers in Hacienda Yulo in Laguna and Isabela.
Karapatan made the statement following the reported threats, harassment, and arrests being experienced by farmers in these areas.
“Like the majority of the populace, what they need most now is assistance, support, and ultimately, the right to land and life. However, there has been no letup from life-threatening attacks they experience, whether from State forces or armed security and goons of local landlords,” Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay said.
Palabay was referring to the accounts posted by Defend Yulo Farmers on Facebook which said that attacks by armed men against Hacienda Yulo farmers in Sitio Buntog in Barangay Canlubang have escalated.
(KMP / MANILA BULLETIN)
According to Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), the farmers were beaten up at Sitio Buntog, Barangay Canlubang at around 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
The gunmen blocked the quick reaction team, which the group said, were accompanied by the farmers on documenting the recent incidents of “arson, demolition, and harassment” in the area.
Support group Defend Yulo Farmers said those hurt were Pedro Mangubat, Hermie de Leon, Chris Laurel, William Caranat, Florencio Masongsong, and a minor.
Sitio Buntog is part of the 7,100-hectare Hacienda Yulo sugar estate in Laguna. It spans the cities of Calamba, Cabuyao, and Sta. Rosa.
Thursday, 28 January 2021, 7:28 am
The new year kicked off with intensified repression
targeting the rural sector.
The People’s Coalition
on Food Sovereignty slams the escalating state attacks
against farmers and indigenous peoples in many countries
across the globe. We call out these governments –
especially in the Philippines, Cambodia, and India – for
the blatant violation of human rights to facilitate the
aggressive implementation of neoliberal policies in the
pretext of coping with COVID-19 pandemic.
We abhor the
killings and mass arrests of rural peoples in the
Philippines, which signifies the reigning inhumanity and
impunity perpetrated by the Duterte regime. Filipino farmers