Violence Mars Land Reform Implementation in Negros
15 agrarian reform beneficiaries killed in 4 years

In Negros, unless the government and the agrarian department in particular, stand sincere and consistent in their commitment to the disbandment of land monopoly, the farmers will continue to face the violence of the powerful and armed landlords, and will therefore, be forced to fight back.

By Karl G. Ombion 
Bulatlat

Villagers look (right) at the corpse (left) of 59-year-old land reform beneficiary Teresita Mameng, slain last Sept. 3.

Photo courtesy of TFM

LA CARLOTA CITY -- Teresa Mameng, 59 years old, a holder of Certificate of Land Ownership Agreement (CLOA) in the 132-hectare Hacienda Conchita Villanueva in Barangay Sag-ang, La Castellana, 80 kms southeast of Bacolod City, was shot dead allegedly by armed goons of hacienda owner Mario Villanueva last September 3. She was the 15th person killed due to agrarian-related violence in Negros since the year 2000.

At around 11:30 p.m. of September 3, 14 armed men fired at the makeshift homes of agrarian reform beneficiaries or CLOA holders in the hacienda.  According to witnesses presented by Task Force Mapalad, the organization of agrarian reform beneficiaries from Conchita Villanueva, the armed men, allegedly led by Juanito Suriaga, trusted keeper of the hacienda, indiscriminately fired at the houses while the farmers and their children were asleep.

Witnesses said that the farmers and their families scampered in different directions. Mameng, they said, was hit in the chest but managed to run to a nearby sugarcane field. She may have bled to death - her body was found by relatives and friends at dawn the next day.

Mario Diaz, counsel of GV and Sons Inc., the company owned by Mario Villanueva, denied that his client maintains “armed goons” in the hacienda.  He claimed that his client employs legitimate security guards from the Tuguis Security Agency.

He added that the CLOAs being held by the farmers were under question.  According to him, the Regional Trial Court of La Carlota City has granted the petition of GV and Sons Inc. for a writ of preliminary injunction enjoining the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) to cease and desist from placing the hacienda under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL).

The DAR appealed the decision but the Court of Appeals recently denied the appeal for lack of merit.

Jimmy Mameng, son of Teresa, however slammed the owners of Conchita Villanueva saying, “They have always been desperate to remove us from the land and put instead their own favored farm workers to maintain their hold on the lands already covered by CARL”.

The provincial government and the local police of La Castellana vowed to give justice to Mameng and other victims. New DAR Secretary Rene Villa said that despite the incident, land reform implementation will continue. Newly-elected congressman of the 5th District of Negros Occidental, Ignacio Arroyo, promised to help solve the problem while ensuring that the rights of landowners will also be protected.

Edna Sobrecaray, spokesperson of Task Force Mapalad, said that “Every time farmers stand up for their rights and claim their rights to the land, landowners quickly respond with violence.” She challenged Rep. Arroyo, Villa, landowner Villanueva and the national police not to whitewash the case and to immediately put an end to the violence marring agrarian disputes.

15 killed

Bulatlat research reveals that since 2000, 15 agrarian reform beneficiaries were killed and 57 were wounded as a result of agrarian-related violence in Negros Occidental.  Added to this, 39 farmers were illegally arrested.

Since 2000 to the present, 58 criminal and civil cases have been filed against more than 3,000 farmers in 45 haciendas placed under or already covered by CARP.  Among the cases filed against agrarian reform beneficiaries by landowners include forcible/unlawful entry, attempted murder and malicious mischief, and usurpation of real property.  Likewise, administrative cases, petitions for the cancellation of land titles, and injunctions have also been filed. These cases exclude beneficiary inclusion/exclusion proceedings pending with the DAR.

Months earlier, the CLOAs of farmers in the neighboring 145-hectare Hacienda Malaga-Cuenca were declared null and void by the RTC of La Carlota.  This decision was subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeals.

A source from Task Force Mapalad said that cases filed by agrarian reform beneficiaries against landowners and their cohorts rarely prosper in court despite the identification of perpetrators by witnesses. Local police are apparently reluctant to pursue cases against landowners. In several instances, such as in the case of Hacienda Conchita Villanueva, the farmer victims found themselves being charged by the police instead.

Unresolved cases

Among the unresolved cases were the murder of Tay Trabajador of Toboso, Negros Occidental in 2000; the ambush and shooting in 2001 of farmer beneficiaries of Hacienda Kasuco in Kabankalan allegedly by armed goons and farmers loyal to a leaseholder group of landowners; the killing of Ronilo Vasquez and wounding of two other beneficiaries in Hacienda Cambuktot, La Castellana allegedly by goons of former landowner Farley Gustilo in February 2001; the mauling of an ABS-CBN News Channel cameraman who was covering the farmer-beneficiaries’ legal claim to portions of Hacienda Velez Malaga in La Castellana in November 2002 allegedly by goons of land owner Roberta Cuenca; the mauling of a beneficiary in Hacienda Carmenchika, Pontevedra allegedly by the encargado mayor (trusted keeper) and goons of landowner Kitchie Benedicto on November 2002; the shooting and hacking of two beneficiaries allegedly by goons of landowner Mario Villanueva in Hacienda Conchita Villanueva, La Castellana in December 2002; the attack on farmer-beneficiaries in Hacienda Esperanza, La Carlota on March 6, 2003, resulting in the death of a beneficiary and wounding of two others alleged by goons of landowner Kitchie Benedicto; the ambush and shooting of a beneficiary in Hacienda Sto. Rosario on March 13 allegedly by goons of the Lizares-Lopez Development Corporation; the shooting to death of CLOA holder Indak Espartero allegedly by goons and loyalists of the Miguel J. Lacson Corporation in Hacienda San Benito, Barangay Crossing Magallon, Moises Padilla last May 3, 2003; the shooting of Ronito Boltron, 25, at the 103-hectare Hacienda Mulawin in Sagay City allegedly by guards and farmers loyal to  landowner Antonio Lopez and farm manager Joseph Lacson on January 5, 2004.

Richard Sarrosa, chairperson of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas- Negros (Peasant Movement in the Philippines-Negros chapter) told Bulatlat that “agrarian-related violence is bound to escalate because the whole structure of our semi-feudal economy is inherently biased and violent against the farmers”.

The big hacienderos and landlord-compradors in Negros are strongly backed by government authorities, the military, the Philippine National Police and by paramilitary groups such as the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade, and the local courts. They can easily reverse the decisions of the DAR or eject farmer beneficiaries from the land anytime they want,” he added.

Sarrosa stressed that unless the government and the DAR in particular, stand sincere and consistent in their commitment to the disbandment of land monopoly, the farmers will continue to face the violence of the powerful and armed landlords, and will therefore, be forced to fight back. Bulatlat

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