Farmers’ Homes Bulldozed to Pave Way for
Revilla-owned Housing Project
Unabated tension and
agony still linger among farmers in Cabangaan village after their houses
were bulldozed to give way to a posh housing project by the Revilla clan.
BY DENNIS ESPADA
Bulatlat
SILANG, Cavite – Unabated tension and
agony still linger among farmers in Cabangaan village after their houses
were bulldozed to give way to a posh housing project by the Revilla clan.
Last Feb. 15, the farmers said the Revilla
family hired construction workers to make fences that would enclose the
25-hectare land and prevent them from harvesting their crops. Several men,
they said, took away their pineapples and bananas using the trucks of Imus
Productions, a Revilla-owned movie outfit. They also discovered that the
village’s water pump was missing, consequently depriving water to at least
1,300 residents, they said.
|
HOMELESS SUDDENLY: They are among the
77 children displaced by the demolition of farmers’ homes in Cabangaan
village, Silang, Cavite |
These incidents took place amid ongoing
negotiations between the Municipal Government of Silang, actor-senator
Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., and government agencies for a just and
reasonable relocation, and to recognize the legitimate rights of the 50
tenant-families who lost their homes and land to till.
Twelve days ago, police-supported
demolition teams headed by Cavite’s police intelligence chief Rodel
Sermonia tore down 44 houses within the disputed property of former
senator and Public Reclamation Authority chair Ramon Revilla Sr. (Jose
Bautista in real life). The human rights watch group Cavite Ecumenical
Movement for Justice and Peace (CEMJP) stated the incident has displaced
191 individuals, including 77 children.
Angry residents said the police failed to
give them formal notice and did not even show the demolition order from
the court.
Land Row
The land dispute started in 2004 when the
Revillas filed a case before the Department of Agrarian Reform’s
Adjudicatory Board (Darab). The agrarian case went through the normal
process. But as their legal case proved futile, the farmers decided to
camp out and barricade the village in November 2004 to avert any
demolition.
The Samahan ng Magsasaka sa Cabangaan (Samaca
or Association of Farmers in Cabangaan), charged that the Revillas were
able to get a demolition and eviction order from Darab “using their
political influence.” Both Darab’s provincial and central offices issued a
decision in Revilla’s favor.
Samaca chair Teodoro Garcia recalled that
in December last year, Revilla Sr. spoke with them over the phone and told
that it will be their last Christmas season in the village because he will
pursue the demolition after New Year’s Day. Last January 28, Garcia said,
one of them received text messages supposedly from Revilla saying their
days are already numbered.
|
WRECKING CREW: The demolition teams
that tore down farmers’ houses in Cabangaan were beefed up by local
police forces |
Revilla Sr. denied he harassed the
villagers and belied allegations portraying him as a land grabber.
The Kalipunan ng mga Magsasaka sa Kabite (Kamagsasaka-Ka
or Farmers’ Federation in Cavite) clarified that: “Kailanma’y hindi
inaangkin ng mga mamamayan dito ang lupang sakahang pag-aari ng mga
Revilla. Patuloy
lamang nilang iginigiit na marapat silang kilalanin bilang mga lehitimong
tenante at hindi itrato na tulad ng mga iskwater gaya ng paratang sa
kanila.” (The people here are
not claiming any agricultural land owned by the Revillas. They just
demanding that they be recognized as legitimate tenants and not squatters
as they are portrayed to be.)
Legitimate Tenants
According to 76-year old Caridad Mercado –
the oldest resident in the village – the tenants arrived in Cabangaan in
1911, shortly after the eruption of Taal volcano. Many displaced residents
from nearby towns of Taal, Bauan and Talisay in Batangas founded a
settlement where they bushwhacked and started tilling the land. Since
then, the land slowly turned into a rice and coconut farm.
In the 1950s, a certain Emiliano Asuncion
claimed the land. The Asuncions and the farmers sealed a landowner-tenant
relationship, with the latter agreeing to pay land rent in the form of
money or crops.
Revilla Sr., who was known for his Robin
Hood, amulet-bearing character in action films, purchased the land from
the Asuncions in 1972. Part of their agreement was that the tenants would
be retained and the landlord-tenant relationship will continue.
As the paddies were replaced with
pineapples and coffee trees, the farmers entered into a written leasehold
agreement with the Revillas in the early 1990s. Since then, they paid
P1,500 per hectare annually as part of the contract. The tenant-farmers
religiously paid their rent, Kamagsasaka-Ka stated. But in 1998, Revilla
Sr. refused to accept the rentals for the simple reason that he doesn’t
need it because he has plenty of money already.
In 2002, Revilla Sr. accused the farmers
of illegal squatting and ordered then to abandon the land within six
months, Kamagsasaka-Ka said. This compelled them to organize to assert
their rights as legitimate tenants of Revilla’s land.
Last year, around 300 fully-armed elements
of the Philippine National Police (PNP)-Silang, Regional Mobile Group,
Regional Investigation Unit, Cavite Criminal Investigation and Detection
Team and the military, raided Cabangaan in search of New People’s Army (NPA)
guerillas.
Kamagsasaka and Samaca stated that instead
of "agimat ng masa” (amulet of the masses), Revilla Sr. should be
called "nagpapalayas ng magsasaka” (evictor of farmers). “Hinding-hindi
iiwan ng mga magsasaka ang lupang kanilang kinagisnan,” (The peasants
will never leave the land where they saw the light of day) both groups
further said. Bulatlat
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