“We used to grow our own source of income. But now we have to work for others.” – land reform beneficiary from Hacienda Dolores
By DEE AYROSO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – An overseas Filipino worker remains unable to talk nor walk, three months after he was beaten up by suspected security guards of the real estate developer in the disputed Hacienda Dolores in Porac, Pampanga.
Bulatlat learned from leaders of the Alyansa ng Magbubukid at Residente sa Hacienda Dolores (AMRHD) that Melchor Manaloto, 36, was beaten up on Nov. 24, 2015 inside the hut he was constructing in sitio Balukbok, Purok (sub-village) 8, Dolores village, Porac. The hut is located some distance away from the perimeter fence of Alviera, the Ayala Land Corp.’s housing complex in Hacienda Dolores.
Manaloto is a former OFW in the Middle East but was forced to return home because he was no longer getting paid by his employer.
Manaloto’s mauling is only one of the violent attacks that continue against the land reform beneficiaries at odds against the Ayala Land Inc. in the area.
Since 2013, Ayala Land, together with Leonio Land of the Leonardo Lachenal-Leonio Holdings (LLL) and its affiliate FL Property Management Corp. (FL), had taken over and fenced off 700 has. of productive lands in the area. Hundreds of farmers have since been barred from getting to their orchard, one of their main sources of livelihood.
Nob Manaloto, Melchor’s uncle, said the victim was also guarding a charcoal kiln and was alone in his hut when the mauling happened. A neighbor, who was preparing harvested sugarcane, passed by Manaloto’s hut at around 1 a.m. He heard groaning and found the injured Manaloto, who was then rushed to the hospital. He was mainly injured in the head and back of the neck.
The next day, security guards asked a resident which hospital Manaloto was brought to and if he made it there alive.
“How did they even know what happened? It was already midnight,” said Nob.
Leaders of the AMRHD lamented that this year, security guards of the LLL Holdings have prevented them from making charcoal, even in the area far from the Ayala fence. The guards even stopped a resident who tried to build a chicken house, mistaking it to be a hut.
Nob said the LLL guards have no right to stop the farmers because the area is not included in that which the Ayala claims it has bought.
“What pains us even more is that they are burning our fruit trees, to falsely show that the area is not cultivated,” said Nob.
Six of the eight sub-villages of Hacienda Dolores is the site of 1,125 hectare-Alviera project, which will develop a commercial, business, industrial district, university and research zone, residential and recreational areas.
The project is widely opposed by the affected residents who hold Certificates of Land Transfer (CLT) and Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) under the government land reform program. Many of the peasants were born in the hacienda and have been tilling the land for some four decades. Many have faithfully paid amortization.
Three years of hardship
The Dolores peasants decried the loss of livelihood and worsening poverty in the past three years that they have been kept out of their land.
“Demy,” 52, an AMRHD member who requested anonymity, said she used to earn up to P5,000 ($106) a week from harvesting guavas alone. But now, she now gets her income as a farm worker, a hired hand during harvest and planting season in other communities. For three days-worth of work during the peak of harvest, Demy gets paid with a sack of palay worth around P1,000 ($21).
“We used to grow our own source of income. But now we have to work for others,” she said.
She enumerated some of the income she used to earn from her fruit trees: P2,500 ($53) every harvest from bananas; P2,000 ($43) every week from mangoes; P6,000 to P7,500 ($128 to $159) a week from santol. Picking season is not the same for all the fruit trees, and lasts several months, ensuring abundant income all-year-round. They sell the fruits to a sakadora, a trader who transports the harvest and sells these to the public market in Angeles City, also in Pampanga. She also has avocado, cashew, and vegetable crops.
“They told us to get a permit from the company,” she said, referring to LLL. “But if we sign anything, they could get the land,” she said, adding that many farmers had refused to sign anything.
Another farmer, Bong Santiago said he had been tilling a one-hectare farm for 42 years, before it was claimed by the Ayala. He holds a CLT for the farm that was passed on by his father, and had fully paid the amortization. “How could they claim to have bought the land, when I did not sell it?” he said.
“I’m still paying its real estate tax,” Santiago said, and added that he paid P180 ($4) last year.
AMRHD leader Mario Franco said Hacienda Dolores farmers now have to go to other places to find income, mostly as farm workers. During harvest season for sugarcane, they get paid P20 per sack, earning up to P200 ($4) a day.
In spite of the attacks, the AMRHD farmers said they are optimistic to continue asserting their right and return to their land. Two leaders of the residents, Arman Padiño and Nemelao Garcia, who was also village councilor, were killed in 2014.
“We used to live peaceful lives. We should be harvesting by this time,” Demy said wistfully.
