Mall Owners, Property Developers Drive out Peasants from their Land

A scrutiny of latest data on the situation of peasants makes one realize that the government's prescriptions for development only translate to the perpetuation of poverty in the countryside.

By ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat.com

Despite government claims of success, the land reform program – begun by President Corazon Aquino more than 10 years ago – has been criticized for its land conversions and for allowing landlords to in fact further monopolize land ownership.

Recent reports show that land use conversions persist, further eroding peasants’ claims to have a land of their own. This time, land conversions tend to be colossal with big mall owners and property developers in the scramble.

As of last June, land use conversion projects involving large tracts of land are happening in Pampanga, Tarlac, Bataan, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Aurora, and Quezon.

The Lakeshore project in Mexico, Pampanga aims to convert 253 hectares of farmland into an industrial, commercial, residential, and recreational complex. As of last June, 126 hectares (or close to 50% of the targeted land) are already converted.

Meanwhile, Beverly Place is the area for the conversion of 1,000 hectares of agricultural land in Mexico and San Fernando, Pampanga into a commercial center. The SM and Robinson malls currently occupy part of this land.

The mothballed Pampanga Delta Development Project is not totally shelved by the government and still threatens to submerge six towns in Pampanga and three in Bulacan.

The list of land conversion cases in other areas is endless:

* In Tarlac, thousands of peasants are in danger of being ejected from their lands as the Clark Development Corporation plans to convert 100 hectares of agricultural land into a dumpsite for the waste of multinational corporations operating in the area;

* In Barangay San Vicente, Sorobia, Tarlac, 1,000 peasants are forcibly evicted so that their lands could be converted by Orchids World International into a flower bank;

* In Nueva Ecija, 3,000 hectares of agricultural land are claimed by landlord Florencio Garcia in order to be converted;

* In Bataan, there is a plan to convert 90 hectares of agricultural land into a "Cybercity;"

* In Pangasinan, 1,000 hectares of agricultural land and peasant communities are threatened by the construction of the San Roque Dam;

* The "Green Circle" project threatens to affect 240,000 hectares of agricultural and forest land from Dingalan, Aurora to Infanta, Quezon;

* In Laguna and Batangas, peasants are being dispossessed by the illegal land use conversion activities of the Ayala Land Corporation. These activities have affected 197 hectares.

Harassment in the name of environment?

Last August, security forces from the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and ABS-CBN's Bantay Kalikasan stormed a peasant community in Montalban, Rizal. MWSS and Bantay Kalikasan are partners in the La Mesa Watershed project. The peasants' houses were demolished and their crops uprooted.

A report by the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) also says that the security forces went on a "looting spree."

Land for the landless?

In her second State of the Nation Address last July, President Macapagal-Arroyo said that 104,261 hectares have been distributed to 72,188 beneficiaries. Based on past "accomplishments" of the Ramos and Estrada administrations, however, her figure shows the lowest rate of private land distribution since 1992.

In her policy pronouncements, Macapagal-Arroyo simply continues the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL) which stipulates several exemptions that favor big landlords. These exemptions have aggravated land grabbing and land use conversions resulting in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of peasants.

Rice trade liberalization

To improve the lot of peasants, Macapagal-Arroyo also promises to improve rice production. But instead of doing so, she appears to be pushing the peasants into abject poverty with rice importation. Rice importation is directly related to the administration's agricultural liberalization policy.

Today, the average farmgate price of palay or unhusked rice ranges from P8 to P8.50 per kilo (or $0.15 to $0.16 based on a P52 per U.S. dollar exchange rate). Production costs reach more than P7 per kilo ($0.13). The KMP estimates that rice imports would pull farmgate prices down to P5 to P6 per kilo ($0.10 to $0.11).

Oil price hikes

Aside from these, peasants are plagued by the continuing increase in the prices of petroleum products. Each peasant household, according to the KMP, consumes "more than 200 liters of gasoline, diesel, kerosene and more than 10 liters of oil in a one-hectare land alone during a whole cropping season."

These further jack up the already high cost of agricultural production, while farmgate prices of agricultural products remain low.

Prescriptions for poverty

Indeed, the policies and programs of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration are causing further misery for peasants, who at 75% of the population are the largest basic sector in Philippine society and should therefore be the primary beneficiaries of government support.

The data which clearly show the peasants’ unrewarding toil are concrete evidence that the government's prescriptions for development only translate to the perpetuation of poverty in the countryside. Bulatlat.com 

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