FARMERS and farmworkers from Negros on Monday staged a peaceful demonstration at the foot of the historic Mendiola bridge in Manila to denounce what they call “the insensitivity of the Aquino administration to the plight of poor, landless farmers who are now being evicted from their homes to give way to government projects.”
The protesters who belong to the National Federation of Sugar Workers, KMP-Negros and Amihan-Negros blame the Aquino administration for allowing Negros Occidental Gov. Freddie Maranon to implement the “Food Security Program” that threatens to displace 115 households situated in the 159 hectares of land in Sitio Ilimnan, Barangay Santa Rosa, Murcia, Negros Occidental, which was covered by Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
Rolando Rillo, council member of NFSW based in Negros, demanded that the “unjust and unlawful” project be stopped by President Aquino.
He said 24 houses have been demolished so far while six hectares of rice fields were destroyed.
Six farmers were also notified that their farms will be affected next.
According to Rillo, there were already fencing activities, road concreting, putting up of irrigation canals, and concreting barns for animals.
The protesters, wearing traditional masks, imitated the Negros annual Masskara festival bearing their demands for land, food and jobs.
“Behind the festive that we Negrenses celebrate, farmers and farmworkers are being displaced [from] their homes in the name of development. As a staunch implementer of the project, Gov. Maranon is hell-bent to do whatever means to get us out of our farmlands. The governor used gangster-like tactic by employing local private militia cum thug group the RPA-ABB to harass and intimidate farm beneficiaries who fight for their right to land. In fact, this group along with PNP personnel and local leaders were responsible for evicting, land grabbing and destroying the houses of farmers. Farmers saw the RMGs and the RPAs with their long arms on board the bulldozers while bulldozing the rice fields.” Rillo added
He said that most of the farmer-beneficiaries in the 159-hectare farm land in Hacienda Ilimnan are CLOA holders.
“All of them are dependent on the land for job and food, the governor never consider this and he just continues to converting farm lands to build his ambitious projects which ironically meant for food security in the province,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said that in another incident farmers and farm workers tending in their corn plants were shot at by suspected RPA-ABB men in Kalintaan, Lopez Jaena, Sagay City, Negros Occidental, Elmer Cabahog said.
Cabahog, also a member of NFSW, said the same group also burned their huts which is part of their peasant camp, destroying personal and production materials on July 12.
“This was all happening under Aquino’s stewardship he tolerated this kind of violence and exploitation against food producers and instead he let majority of Negrenses the poor farmers and farm workers in the state of economic destitution and misery. That is why NFSW, KMP-Negros and Amihan-Negros will join thousands of farmers trooping strategic cities in different parts of the country calling for land and justice. Our struggle against the tyranny of governor Maranon is like a spark in the great fire to other farm workers that they should continue to fight even at the face of hardships and violence” Rillo said.
