“During that time, I was a daughter. Now, I'm a mother. However, the truth is, there is still no justice for the 13 martyrs. There is still no genuine land reform up to now. We continue to march to the streets to urge a department to implement genuine land reform,” Miriam Villanueva said in Filipino.
MANILA – Thirty-eight years after the Mendiola massacre, victims and their families continue to call for justice. Farmers continue to suffer from landlessness and oppression, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas stressed in a forum held in Sampaloc, Manila on January...
The PBB 401 rice variety stands out because it has repeatedly shown its resilience to floods, including those induced by extreme weather events.
“Holding Villanueva and his lackeys accountable for their violations of human rights and agrarian reform policy is especially timely, given that Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. had nothing worthwhile to say about human rights and food sovereignty in his State of the Nation Address."
The plight of Hacienda Tinang farmers brought to mind how land reform and due support continue to evade Filipino farmers.
“Deprived farmers are faced with violent reprisal when they assert their rightful claim to land. This exposes CARP as instrumental to landlords while the majority of our farmers remain landless, poor, and hungry."
Farmers have been reaping debts but they get no sufficient aid from the Duterte administration.
The stories in Sitio Compra and Sitio Buntog share many sad parallels. They are both stories of land-use conversion and violence against the nation’s dwindling agricultural communities. While peasants clamor for land reform, the Philippine government has deemed land-use conversion by large corporations as an acceptable substitute.
“The only thing we can pass on to our children is our land. We already lost everything else. We have nothing left to lose. Why should we be afraid?”
Reports from Samahan ng Mamamayang Nagkakaisa sa Sitio Buntog (SAMANA-Buntog) claim that Buntog is being “fenced off”, and goons are destroying farm plots they come across. “They’re even stealing fruits from our trees,” said Jojo de Leon, SAMANA-Buntog spokesperson, in a text message.
Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said that administrations may have changed but not the conditions of majority of the Filipino. They belied claims of the so-called “Duterte legacy,” saying that farmers are being killed and many Filipinos are still in dire poverty.
"Once totally fed up, farmers could actually lead a peasant uprising in the countryside that is directed at Duterte," said Danilo Ramos, chairperson of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.
Fourteen years after the Hacienda Luisita massacre, farmers still fight for their land. The Cojuangco-Aquinos have regained control of the vast sugar plantation with the aid of the Department of Agrarian Reform, military and police.
Government data showed that farmers, fishermen and children of poor families posted the highest poverty incidence. By RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com MANILA – For many years, Filipino farmers have considered October as Peasant Month, culminating every 21st, the...
“Two years of the Duterte regime is two years of non-agrarian reform agenda, as it has yet to pass a new law to replace the expired and failed CARP.”
Despite the environmental degradation plantations cause and the harmful toxic chemicals they use, their proclivity for land grabbing and the low wages they pay, the Duterte administration has allocated another 1.6 million hectares for the expansion of plantations.
For more than 30 years, BTL farmers have been in a deadlock with the CMU administration over 517 hectares of land.
“The marching order to reject Mariano came directly from Malacañang and President Duterte.” -- KMP
The 145-hectare land that was previously awarded under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program in 1996 was successfully turned over by DAR to MARBAI farmers last Dec. 19. However, the farmer-beneficiaries were forcibly driven out of their own land by about 300 security guards of the LFC.
"The long and arduous struggle and sacrifices of Hacienda Luisita farmers for the land are slowly being repaid. The CLOA distribution to Luisita farmers is just the start.” By CERES BUSY Bulatlat HACIENDA LUISITA, Tarlac — The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR)...
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