THOUSANDS of farmers marched to Mendiola yesterday to commemorate the “Mendiola Massacre,” echoing the same demand—social justice and land for the landless—which tragically ended with the death of 13 protesters at the historic place exactly 21 years ago.

Marching several hundreds of kilometers from Bicol, Southern Tagalog, Cordillera, Ilocos, Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon, the farmers said they will mark the start of yet another class struggle and demand for equal distribution of the country’s wealth and resources for the passage of House Bill (HB) 3059, otherwise known as the genuine land reform bill.

Most of the marchers were carrying backpacks, bayong and tampipi containing clothes and food as some started the march as early as last week.

Led by the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), the farmers called for the passage and the immediate implementation of the bill, which they said would pave the way for the implementation of a “genuine” agrarian reform program, in lieu of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

Orly Marcellana, secretary general of the Katipunan ng mga Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan who led the march of a group of farmers from Batangas and Cavite, said 19 years of CARP did nothing to improve their living condition.

“Nineteen long years have passed and yet the peasants are still here, protesting in the streets, calling for the same demands as they [did] before the implementation of CARP,” he said. 

According to Marcellana, the demand for land for the landless peasants triggered the week-long protest in 1987 which led to bloodshed in Mendiola.

“It continues to be the reason why we are again holding a protest march despite threats of harassment,” he said.

Around 400 farmers from the two provinces started their march as early as Thursday last week.

On Friday policemen tried to block the marchers in Tagaytay. Among those who joined the march were farmers from hacienda Looc in Nasugbu, Batangas, who protested the cancellation of their Certificate of Land Ownership Awards (CLOA). 

Romy Cayao, chairman of the Samahan ng mga Magbubukid sa Batangas and one of the agrarian-reform beneficiaries of Hacienda Looc, said the conversion of Hacienda Looc to Harbor Town, an ecotourist spot, was designed to escape CARP coverage.

Artemio de los Reyes, 62, also of Nasugbu, Batangas, said until now, farmers like them continue to struggle for a piece of land to till, which CARP failed to deliver.

They are supporting HB 3059 co- authored by militant party-list lawmakers Crispin Beltran of Anakpawis, Satur Ocampo and Teodoro Casińo of Bayan Muna, and Liza Maza and Luzviminda Ilagan of Gabriela. 

The bill seeks to distribute all agricultural farmlands to landless peasants for free.

KMP national chairman and concurrent Anakpawis president Rafael Mariano said the landmark piece of legislation is a fitting tribute to those who died fighting for social justice in the Philippines.

“Twenty one years ago, struggling farmers trooped to Mendiola to demand land and justice, but the government security forces peppered them with bullets, and later the government passed a fake land reform law that further exacerbate the problem of landlessness in the country,” Mariano, a survivor of the Mendiola Massacre said.

HB 3059 will subject the landholdings and agricultural estates of President Arroyo and her landlord family, the Hacienda Luisita of former President Aquino and the landholdings of businessman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco to compulsory land acquisition without any compensation, and would eventually be distributed to agrarian-reform beneficiaries.

“The Arroyos, the Cojuangcos and other landlords who acquired lands through sheer use of state violence, fraud and other exploitative schemes will not even get a single centavo for their landholdings that would be subjected to automatic expropriation without compensation under the proposed genuine agrarian reform bill,” the peasant leader stressed.

Mariano said the vast landholdings subject for compulsory acquisition without compensation will include the vast tract of lands leased to foreign corporations and those haciendas owned and maintained by big landlords across the nation.

The KMP said the 1,000 hectare of sugar lands in Negros Occidental owned by the family of President Arroyo’s husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, including the 157-hectares of sugar land in Hacienda Bacan, Guintubhan, Isabela, Negros Occidental, will be subjected to expropriation without compensation.

ADB: Fiscal constraints hinder administration of justice in RP

THE fiscal constraints being experienced by the judiciary is hindering the better administration of justice in the country, according to a report released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

MEMBERS of the bicameral conference committee expressed optimism on Tuesday that it would be able to consolidate the best features of the Senate’s Quality, Affordable Medicines Act and the House’s cheaper medicines bill, once Congress reconvenes next week.

IN a bid to put an end to the problem of extralegal killings and enforced disappearances in the country, the Supreme Court (SC) has approved the rules to govern the implementation of the writ of habeas data—the third legal remedy for the victims of human rights violations.

SENATE Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. (PDP-Laban) Tuesday denounced a move of proadministration local chief executives to relaunch a people’s initiative to amend the Constitution with the objective of abolishing the Senate.

THE Sumilao farmers who continue to fight for the ownership of the former Quisumbing property in barangay San Vicente, Sumilao, Bukidnon, met with Catholic bishops at the Pope Pius XII building in Manila yesterday to convince the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to take a more active role in the struggle for agrarian reform.

THOUSANDS of farmers marched to Mendiola yesterday to commemorate the “Mendiola Massacre,” echoing the same demand—social justice and land for the landless—which tragically ended with the death of 13 protesters at the historic place exactly 21 years ago.

EXTRAJUDICIAL killings continue to hound the Arroyo administration this year, with the death of a carpenter accused of being a member of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Claveria, Masbate, and a former political detainee who was just released from prison two years ago in Tagbilaran City, Bohol.

Church leaders on Tuesday appealed for the resumption of peace negotiations between the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF), saying this is a better option than getting bothered with rumors of destabilization.