The Capas Municipal Trial Court on Monday dismissed charges of illegal assembly and malicious mischief against the farmers who participated in a cultivation activity in Barangay Tinang, Concepcion, Tarlac earlier this month.
All of the farmers who participated in the June 9 "bungkalan" or cultivation activity in Hacienda Tinang in Tarlac have been deemed qualified beneficiaries of the government's agrarian reform program covering the area, farmers group Makisama-Tinang said Monday.
The 83 Tinang farmers and their supporters are considering filing counter-charges against the Tarlac police for their alleged violent arrest during a ceremonial cultivation of land or "bungkalan.”
The 83 Hacienda Tinang farmers and their supporters on Friday refused to enter a plea over the charges filed against them before the Capas, Tarlac Regional Trial Court, their lawyer said Friday.