Ayala-led guards revive fencing operations vs. Cavite farmers

Photo by KASAMA/TK

By JUSTIN UMALI
Bulatlat.com

CABUYAO CITY, Laguna – At least 150 armed security guards have converged on a farming community in Silang, Cavite province in an effort to restart the fencing operations that began last year.

According to local organization Samahan ng Magsasaka at Mamamayan ng Tartaria (SAMATA), guards from Jarton Security Agency started to arrive in Lupang Tartaria, a farming community in barangay Tartaria, Silang, January 21, and began digging on a patch of land to erect fences, ostensibly to repair old fences destroyed by the rainy season.

However, SAMATA said that the land owner did not consent to the action since “they had not surrendered their rights to the land,” noting that Jarton security was actually expanding the fence and not conducting repairs. The local community responded by blocking the guards’ access to the field by laying down a barbed wire fence of their own.

Tensions flared up when at least 10 guards surrounded a local resident attempting to lay down a fence, resulting in one senior citizen being injured.

Peasant federation Katipunan ng mga Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan condemned the incident, saying that Jarton Security “violated the farmers’ rights” and disobeyed standard procedure.

“[The guards] are fully covered, with no name plates, and are blocking farmers from planting their crops,” the group said in its statement. Initial reports from KASAMA-TK also note that despite the presence of local government officials and the police, they “did nothing and only watched” while security guards harassed local residents.

A stand-off persists in Tartaria as of press time as the local community is wary of another series of violent clashes against the security guards. Jarton Security, meanwhile, has reinforced their ranks to at least 150.

Tensions last intensified in Tartaria last April 2024 when Jarton guards first began barricading the community, which SAMATA exposed as having no permit from the Silang Municipal Engineering Office. Tartaria residents and supporters defended their community but were met with violence, with Jarton guards forcibly entering the outpost erected by locals and burning it down. The personal belongings of those in the outpost at the time were also confiscated, including those of photojournalist Jose Monsieur Santos.

Following the incident, Jarton Security filed cases of theft and coercion against SAMATA President Jerrie Luna and 40 other residents. The cases were eventually dismissed by the courts for lack of merit.

The 200-hectare Lupang Tartaria has held the interest of the Aguinaldo clan since 1940, claiming it as part of Lupang Aguinaldo. Tartaria residents, however, can trace their residence in Tartaria as far back as 1911; the result of a wave of migration following the eruption of the Taal volcano in Batangas.

According to SAMATA, Emilio “Orange” Aguinaldo IV has partnered up with real-estate conglomerate Ayala Land, Inc. to assert his family’s ownership of the land. Ayala Land employs Jarton to provide private security services in its establishments in the nearby Nuvali Evo-living Center in Santa Rosa City, Laguna province.

Ayala Land was previously involved in altercations with farming communities, including the back-to-back incidents in Lupang Tartaria and nearby Hacienda Yulo in 2021. Both incidents involved “clearing operations” against farmers and residents, which resulted in violence.

The Ayala family, through its subsidiaries, have business interests from Kawit, Cavite to Calamba, Laguna. Aside from Nuvali, Lupang Tartaria is also located next to Ayala Malls Solenad, also in Santa Rosa, Ayala Malls Serin in Tagaytay, and the Cavite-Laguna Expressway, which connects Ayala Land’s Evo City in Kawit to its projects in Santa Rosa and Tagaytay. (RVO)

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