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By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
“US troops have no business in Hacienda Luisita except to join the armed forces in stepping up the militarization and perpetuate a climate of fear as protesting farm workers persist in their demands for land," Gabriela Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan said, "We want the US troops out of Luisita and out of the Philippines.”
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
After experiencing heavy deployment of AFP troops, the peasants of Hacienda Luisita are bracing for the entry of US troops who would be conducting 'trainings' inside the hacienda.
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Big landowners in Negros Occidental have found another way to retain and re-concentrate the land in their hands: file criminal cases against peasants and farm workers.
Thousands of farmers from various provinces in Southern Mindanao held a protest-march dubbed “Martsa alang sa Yuta ug Hustisya!” (March for Land and Justice!) at Rizal Park, Davao City on October 22. Led by the Kilusang Magbubukid sa Pilipinas-Southern Mindanao Region, farmers threw eggs with red paint at a poster bearing President Benigno Aquino III's face, calling him a total failure for not having the heart nor the political intent and morality to uplift the plight of hapless farmers in the region.
Long March Against a 'Haciendero' Regime
arrying lit torches, thousands of peasants and agricultural workers from all over country converge in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform office in Quezon City on Wednesday, marking the third day of “Lakbayan ng mga Magsasaka Laban sa Hacienderong Rehimen ni Aquino” (Long March of Farmers Against the Hacienda Regime of Aquino).
Farmers from Negros, Southern Tagalog, Tungkong Mangga and Hacienda Luisita protested in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform office in Quezon City on Saturday, and blamed the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (CARPer) for causing massive landlessness, poverty and hunger, marking what they dubbed as World “Foodless” Day.
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Calling the Aquino government as a “haciendero regime” and the “number one enemy of peasants,” progressive farmers’ organizations from Central and Southern Luzon would converge at the office of the office of the Department of Agrarian Reform before marching to the historic Mendiola bridge on October 21.
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas-Southern Mindanao (KMP-SMR), together with other peasant groups in the region, slam President Benigno Aquino III and his administration for its anti-farmer and anti-lumad policies, and for being a US puppet. KMP-SMR will hold a 3-day protest action, starting october 21, in line with the celebration of Peasant Month.
Amihan, a national federation of peasant women, awarded President Benigno S. Aquino III with a kalabasa, marking his 100th day in office last October 8.
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
“This is an old tune,” Axel Pinpin, secretary general of Kalipunan ng Samahang Magsasaka sa Timog Katagalugan (Kasama-TK), told Bulatlat, referring to the arrest of three peasants in Laguna. He blamed the extended counterinsurgency program Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL).
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
“It has been 100 days and we don’t see any major achievement or results as far as genuine change is concerned. There is plenty of rhetoric but too few accomplishments that could be felt by the poor.”– Bagong Alyansang Makabayan.
More than a hundred peasants who attempted to hold their two-day vigil at the foot Don Chino Roces Bridge (formerly Mendiola Bridge), marking President Benigno Aquino III's 100th day in power, were dispersed by police around 7:30 p.m. on October 6.
[Video] Where’s the Change?
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Farmers' group Kilusan ng Magbubukid ng Pilipinas said human rights violations and no land distribution even in haciendas under agrarian dispute characterize the first 100 days of the Aquino presidency.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
In March 2007, peasant leader Rene Quirante was imprisoned when criminal charges were filed against him by the military. Eventually, the case was dismissed. But on Oct. 1, around 2:00 a.m., soldiers of the 11th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army silenced him forever.
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