A member of the local farmers organization Aniban ng Nagkakaisang Mamamayan sa Hacienda Dolores (Aniban), which is opposing the eviction of farmers in Hacienda Dolores by LLL Holdings Inc. and F.L. Properties and Management Corporation was shot at; another member’s house was set on fire; and unidentified men threw a grenade at another member’s home.
By RONALYN OLEA
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — At around 7:30 a.m. today, two men on board a motorcycle shot farmer Modesto Posadas near the SCTEX interchange in Porac, Pampanga.
According to the Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luson (AMGL), Posadas had just brought his daughter to school and was on his way home when unidentified men fired their guns at him. Posadas sustained a gunshot wound on his arms and was taken to the public hospital in Porac for treatment.
Posadas is a member of the local farmers organization Aniban ng Nagkakaisang Mamamayan sa Hacienda Dolores (Aniban). Aniban is opposing the eviction of farmers in Hacienda Dolores by LLL Holdings Inc. and F.L. Properties and Management Corporation. The two companies, in partnership with Ayala Land Inc., plans to build a ‘Nuvali’-like residential area. Nuvali is an upscale residential subdivision in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, south of Manila. More than 350 farmers and 1,000 families stand to lose their livelihood if the project pushes through.
The AMGL condemned the frustrated killing of Posadas. The AMGL said that on December 6, another member of Aniban, Jessel Orgas, also experienced harassment. Unidentified men threw a grenade at his house in purok 5, Hacienda Dolores. On November 29, unidentified men also hit Orgas’s house with a burning arrow, setting on fire the wooden walls.
Joseph Canlas, AMGL chairman, said the recent cases add up to the list of human rights violations committed by the security guards and goons of the LLL Holdings Inc., F.L. Properties and Management Corporation and Ayala Land.
Canlas said that elements of the local police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines were visible inside the hacienda for the past months.
A national fact-finding and solidarity mission held in October documented 26 cases of destruction and divestment of properties, affecting 21 farmers; one case of illegal arrest and detention affecting 12 farmers, among others.
“Amid the violence and deception, the farmers of Hacienda Dolores continue to assert their right to land,” Canlas said.
Canlas also criticized the Aquino administration “for selling large tracts of land for the interest of local and foreign investors under the program Public Private Partnership (PPP).” 
