Agricultural Workers Say With or Without New Constitution AFP Will never be Protectors of the People

The Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) declares that with or without a new Constiution, the Armed Forces of the Philippines will never be a protector of the people.

According to UMA Secretary General John Milton Lozande, the AFP recently made a big fuss about the removal in the proposed federal Constitution a provision describing the AFP as “protector of the people”.

But its fangs came out, when the AFP stated that Human Security Act is inutile, because according to them nobody was indicted for it as terrorists. Other than that, the AFP opposed limiting the conduct of electronic surveillance without any warrant.

And it is not like the AFP has ever let the constitution stopped it from abusing its power.

From July 2016 to December 2017, Karapatan’s year-end report documented 126 victims of political killings; 235 victims of frustrated extrajudicial killings; 930 of illegal arrest; 362,355 of indiscriminate firing; 426,590 of forced evacuation, and 56,456 of threat, harassment & intimidation.

Clearly, protecting the people is the AFP’s least priority. Ensuring that there will be just and lasting peace does not run in favor to its US masters that have been funneling multi-million dollar funds for Oplan Kapayapaan (OpKap).

OpKap is the government’s counter-insurgency program that has only resulted to massive attacks and criminalization of individuals and communities who are simply asserting their right to land, just wages, job security and humane working conditions.

OpKap also works to protect big-corporate interests as seen from their continuing presence in rural communities where agribusiness plantations are operating and expanding, especially in Mindanao.

A recent report from the International Fact Finding and Solidarity Mission (IFSM) conducted last April 6-9 in Mindanao documented political killings of farmers, peasant leaders and land reform advocates. Some were killed right in their homes in the presence of their family members and other civilians, while some were murdered in their farms. These incidences were often preceded by red-tagging by the AFP, accusing them of being members or supporters of the New People’s Army.

Lozande added, “Serving the people, especially peasants and agriworkers, is not in the AFP’s best interest. This is evident in the AFP’s role in the stalling of peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and later on postponement of the 4th round of official talks.”

Here, the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER), a document that guarantees free land distribution, rural development and national industrialization, was set to be signed.

Lozande stated, “It is now in the people’s hands, led by the country’s huge peasantry together with workers, lumad groups, church people and other sectors, to not only resist the continuing repression and oppression of Duterte’s fascist state but also to make genuine agrarian reform a reality for all.”###

Unity Statement: National Sugar Workers Summit 2016

DEKLARASYON NG PAGKAKAISA

Ikalawang Pambansang Pagtitipon ng mga Manggagawa sa Asukal
2nd National Sugar Workers Summit
Agosto 30-31, 2016

Kami, mga lider at kinatawan ng mga unyon, asosasyon at organisasyon ng mga manggagawang-bukid sa tubuhan at mga manggagawang agrikultural sa ilohan ng asukal at planta ng bioethanol na matatagpuan sa iba’t ibang sulok ng bansa, ngayon ay nagkakaisa sa pagtataguyod at pagtatanggol sa interes, kagalingan at kapakanan ng aming hanay.

Kami ay nagpupursige sa pagpapatatag ng aming pagkakaisa sa pamamagitan ng aming mga lokal na unyon at samahan sa ilalim ng National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW), at sa Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA), bilang pampulitikang sentro ng pakikibaka ng lahat ng mga manggagawang agrikultural sa bansa.

Nagkakaisa kami ngayon sa mapangahas na pagmumulat, pag-oorganisa at pagpapakilos sa aming hanay, paglulunsad ng malawak na propaganda at pampulitikang edukasyon, at pagkakasa ng mga lokal na kampanya at pakikibakang masa at pambansang koordinadong pagkilos, upang makamit ang sumusunod na mga layunin:

1.Ipatupad ang tunay na reporma sa lupa at pambansang industriyalisasyon. Ipamahagi ang lupa sa mga magsasaka, manggagawa sa agrikultura at manggagawang-bukid. Wakasan na ang monopolyo sa lupa ng mga panginoong maylupa at mga lokal at dayuhang agrikorporasyon sa bansa. Ibasura at itigil ang iba’t ibang iskema na nagkakait sa karapatan sa lupa ng mga magbubukid gaya ng Stock Distribution Option (SDO), at mga Agribusiness Venture Agreement (AVA) tulad ng leaseback, contract growing, corporative scheme; sugar block farming; at rentahan o aryendo. Kamtin ang lupa at hustisya para sa mga manggagawang-bukid sa Hacienda Luisita at sa buong bansa.

2.Para sa kagalingan ng magbubukid at pag-unlad ng ekonomiya, isabatas at ipatupad ang Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) na isinumite bilang House Bill 555 ng Anakpawis Partylist at Makabayan bloc ngayong ika-17 Kongreso.

3.Ibasura ang liberalisasyon sa industriya ng asukal at agrikultura ng bansa na kaakibat ng deregulasyon, pribatisasyon at denasyunalisasyon o mga neoliberal na dikta ng imperyalistang globalisasyon. Ibaklas ang agrikultura ng bansa sa General Agreeement on Tariffs and Trade-World Trade Organization (GATT-WTO), Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) at iba pang di-pantay na kasunduan sa ekonomya at kalakalan.

4.Itaas ang sahod ng mga manggagawa sa mga ilohan, planta, at manggagawang-bukid sa tubuhan. Itakwil ang sahod-alipin sa mga manggagawang agrikultural na dulot ng iskemang pakyaw, at iba pang anyo ng paglabag sa mandated daily minimum wage sa mga manggagawa sa agrikultura. Ipatupad ang pambansang minimum na sa sahod na Php 750 kada araw para sa mga manggagawa sa pribadong sektor, kasama na rito ang mga manggagawa sa asukal.

5.Itaguyod ang ligtas at makataong kondisyon sa paggawa at kaseguruhan sa trabaho. Itigil ang kontraktwalisasyon. Parusahan ang mga lumalabag sa karapatan ng mga manggagawa at mga kaso ng pagpapabaya sa kaligtasan at kalusugan ng mga manggagawa sa mga lugar ng trabaho.

6.Maagap na ayuda o tulong para sa mga manggagawang agrikultural at manggagawang-bukid sa tubuhan sa panahon ng tiempo muerto o off-milling season, at sa tuwing may mga sakuna at kalamidad.

7. Ibalik sa mga manggagawa sa tubuhan at ilohan ang Sugar Amelioration Fund (SAF). Direktang ipamahagi ang SAF sa mga benepisyaryo sa pamamagitan ng mga unyon, samahan, organisasyon o kooperatiba ng mga manggagawang agrikultural. Ituloy ang malawakang imbestigasyon sa istatus ng implementasyon ng Social Amelioration Program (SAP) at Social Amelioration and Welfare Program (SAWP) sa industriya ng asukal at biofuel. Itulak ang kabuuang awdit sa pondo ng mga ito at maging sa mga proyekto, istruktura o ari-arian na naipundar nang dahil sa SAP at SAWP.

8.Maglaan ng lupaing mapapagtanman ng pagkain para sa mga manggagawang agrikultural sa mga asyenda at plantasyon. Suportahan at kilalanin ang sama-samang bungkalan at mga inisyatiba ng mga magbubukid para sa seguridad sa pagkain.

9.Itigil ang land-use at crop conversion sa mga tubuhan, na para diumano sa mga “proyektong pangkaunlaran” at agresibong ekspansyon ng mga dambuhalang plantasyon na kontrolado ng mga dayuhang agrikorporasyong MNC at TNC. Ang mga ito ay nagdudulot ng marahas na pagpapalayas at pangangamkam, kagutuman, at pagkasira ng kalikasan sa mga komunidad ng magbubukid at manggagawa sa agrikultura.

10. Ipatupad ang pambansang industriyalisasyon at mga kongkretong hakbang sa pagpapaunlad ng industriya ng asukal at biofuel nang may malalim na pagsasaalang-alang sa kagalingan at kapakanan ng mga manggagawa sa industriya; sa pangangailangan sa konsumo ng mamamayang Pilipino; at sa pagpapaunlad ng iba pang lokal na industriya na nakadepende sa mga produktong mula sa tubo.

11. Itigil ang militarisasyon sa kanayunan, pampulitikang panunupil, pamamaslang at paglabag sa karapatang tao. Hustisya para sa mga biktima. Ibasura ang gawa-gawang kaso laban sa mga manggagawa at magbubukid. Karampatang bayad-pinsala sa mga sinirang pananim at ari-arian ng mga biktima. Palayain ang lahat ng bilanggong pulitikal.

12. Suportahan ang usapang pangkapayapaan sa pagitan ng Gobyerno ng Republika ng Pilipinas at Pambansa-Demokratikong Prente ng Pilipinas (GPH-NDFP peace talks) lalo na hinggil sa pagtalakay at pagkakasundo sa kinakailangang mga sosyo-ekonomikong reporma gaya ng tunay na reporma sa lupa at pambansang industriyalisasyon. Ang malalim na pagtalakay at pagresolba sa mga ugat ng armadong tunggalian ang siyang tutugon sa hinaing ng mamamayang naghihimagsik at magdudulot ng makatarungan at pangmatalagang kapayapaan sa ating bayan.

Pinagtibay ngayong ika-31 ng Agosto, 2016, sa Ikalawang Pambansang Pagtitipon ng mga Manggagawa sa Asukal (2nd National Sugar Workers Summit) sa DOLE Occupational Safety and Health Center, Lungsod Quezon.

Nilagdaan ng mga kinatawan ng sumusunod na unyon at organisasyon ng mga manggagawa sa asukal:

DANILO RAMOS, Pangkalahatang Kalihim
Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA)

HERNANE BARROS, Pangkalahatang Kalihim
National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW)
Negros Island Region

KAISAHAN – Batangas, Southern Tagalog

Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang-Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (AMBALA),
Tarlac, Central Luzon

UMA- Isabela, Cagayan Valley

OGYON-Bukidnon, North Central Mindanao

Nagkahiusang Mag-uuma sa Davao del Sur (NAMADDS), Far-South Mindanao

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DEKLARASYON NG PAGKAKAISA

 

Ikalawang Pambansang Pagtitipon ng mga Manggagawa sa Asukal

2nd National Sugar Workers Summit

Agosto 30-31, 2016

 

Kami, mga lider at kinatawan ng mga unyon, asosasyon at organisasyon ng mga manggagawang-bukid sa tubuhan at mga manggagawang agrikultural sa ilohan ng asukal at planta ng bioethanol na matatagpuan sa iba’t ibang sulok ng bansa, ngayon ay nagkakaisa sa pagtataguyod at pagtatanggol sa interes, kagalingan at kapakanan ng aming hanay.

 

Kami ay nagpupursige sa pagpapatatag ng aming pagkakaisa sa pamamagitan ng aming mga lokal na unyon at samahan sa ilalim ng National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW), at sa Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA), bilang pampulitikang sentro ng pakikibaka ng lahat ng mga manggagawang agrikultural sa bansa.

 

Nagkakaisa kami ngayon sa mapangahas na pagmumulat, pag-oorganisa at pagpapakilos sa aming hanay, paglulunsad ng malawak na propaganda at pampulitikang edukasyon, at pagkakasa ng mga lokal na kampanya at pakikibakang masa at pambansang koordinadong pagkilos, upang makamit ang sumusunod na mga layunin:

 

Ipatupad ang tunay na reporma sa lupa at pambansang industriyalisasyon. Ipamahagi ang lupa sa mga magsasaka, manggagawa sa agrikultura at manggagawang-bukid. Wakasan na ang monopolyo sa lupa ng mga panginoong maylupa at mga lokal at dayuhang agrikorporasyon sa bansa. Ibasura at itigil ang iba’t ibang iskema na nagkakait sa karapatan sa lupa ng mga magbubukid gaya ng Stock Distribution Option (SDO), at mga Agribusiness Venture Agreement (AVA) tulad ng leaseback, contract growing, corporative scheme; sugar block farming; at rentahan o aryendo. Kamtin ang lupa at hustisya para sa mga manggagawang-bukid sa Hacienda Luisita at sa buong bansa.

 

Para sa kagalingan ng magbubukid at pag-unlad ng ekonomiya, isabatas at ipatupad ang Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) na isinumite bilang House Bill 555 ng Anakpawis Partylist at Makabayan bloc ngayong ika-17 Kongreso.

 

Ibasura ang liberalisasyon sa industriya ng asukal at agrikultura ng bansa na kaakibat ng deregulasyon, pribatisasyon at denasyunalisasyon o mga neoliberal na dikta ng imperyalistang globalisasyon. Ibaklas ang agrikultura ng bansa sa General Agreeement on Tariffs and Trade-World Trade Organization (GATT-WTO), Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) at iba pang di-pantay na kasunduan sa ekonomya at kalakalan.

 

Itaas ang sahod ng mga manggagawa sa mga ilohan, planta, at manggagawang-bukid sa tubuhan. Itakwil ang sahod-alipin sa mga manggagawang agrikultural na dulot ng iskemang pakyaw, at iba pang anyo ng paglabag sa mandated daily minimum wage sa mga manggagawa sa agrikultura. Ipatupad ang pambansang minimum na sa sahod na Php 750 kada araw para sa mga manggagawa sa pribadong sektor, kasama na rito ang mga manggagawa sa asukal.

 

Itaguyod ang ligtas at makataong kondisyon sa paggawa at kaseguruhan sa trabaho. Itigil ang kontraktwalisasyon. Parusahan ang mga lumalabag sa karapatan ng mga manggagawa at mga kaso ng pagpapabaya sa kaligtasan at kalusugan ng mga manggagawa sa mga lugar ng trabaho.

 

Maagap na ayuda o tulong para sa mga manggagawang agrikultural at manggagawang-bukid sa tubuhan sa panahon ng tiempo muerto o off-milling season, at sa tuwing may mga sakuna at kalamidad.

 

Ibalik sa mga manggagawa sa tubuhan at ilohan ang Sugar Amelioration Fund (SAF). Direktang ipamahagi ang SAF sa mga benipisyaryo sa pamamagitan ng mga unyon, samahan, organisasyon o kooperatiba ng mga manggagawang agrikultural. Ituloy ang malawakang imbestigasyon sa istatus ng implementasyon ng Social Amelioration Program (SAP) at Social Amelioration and Welfare Program (SAWP) sa industriya ng asukal at biofuel. Itulak ang kabuuang awdit sa pondo ng mga ito at maging sa mga proyekto, istruktura o ari-arian na naipundar nang dahil sa SAP at SAWP.

 

Maglaan ng lupaing mapapagtanman ng pagkain para sa mga manggagawang agrikultural sa mga asyenda at plantasyon. Suportahan at kilalanin ang sama-samang bungkalan at mga inisyatiba ng mga magbubukid para sa seguridad sa pagkain.

 

Itigil ang land-use at crop conversion sa mga tubuhan, na para diumano sa mga “proyektong pangkaunlaran” at agresibong ekspansyon ng mga dambuhalang plantasyon na kontrolado ng mga dayuhang agrikorporasyong MNC at TNC. Ang mga ito ay nagdudulot ng marahas na pagpapalayas at pangangamkam, kagutuman, at pagkasira ng kalikasan sa mga komunidad ng magbubukid at manggagawa sa agrikultura.

 

Ipatupad ang pambansang industriyalisasyon at mga kongkretong hakbang sa pagpapaunlad ng industriya ng asukal at biofuel nang may malalim na pagsasaalang-alang sa kagalingan at kapakanan ng mga manggagawa sa industriya; sa pangangailangan sa konsumo ng mamamayang Pilipino; at sa pagpapaunlad ng iba pang lokal na industriya na nakadepende sa mga produktong mula sa tubo.

 

Itigil ang militarisasyon sa kanayunan, pampulitikang panunupil, pamamaslang at paglabag sa karapatang tao. Hustisya para sa mga biktima. Ibasura ang gawa-gawang kaso laban sa mga manggagawa at magbubukid. Karampatang bayad-pinsala sa mga sinirang pananim at ari-arian ng mga biktima. Palayain ang lahat ng bilanggong pulitikal.

 

Suportahan ang usapang pangkapayapaan sa pagitan ng Gobyerno ng Republika ng Pilipinas at Pambansa-Demokratikong Prente ng Pilipinas (GPH-NDFP peace talks) lalo na hinggil sa pagtalakay at pagkakasundo sa kinakailangang mga sosyo-ekonomikong reporma gaya ng tunay na reporma sa lupa at pambansang industriyalisasyon. Ang malalim na pagtalakay at pagresolba sa mga ugat ng armadong tunggalian ang siyang tutugon sa hinaing ng mamamayang naghihimagsik at magdudulot ng makatarungan at pangmatalagang kapayapaan sa ating bayan.

 

Pinagtibay ngayong ika-31 ng Agosto, 2016, sa Ikalawang Pambansang Pagtitipon ng mga Manggagawa sa Asukal (2nd National Sugar Workers Summit) sa DOLE Occupational Safety and Health Center, Lungsod Quezon.

 

 

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Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA)

 

 

 

 

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National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW)

Negros Island

 

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Kaisahan – Batangas

 

 

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Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang-Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita

 

 

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UMA- Isabela, Cagayan Valley

 

 

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Nagkahiusang Mag-uuma sa Davao del Sur

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hacienda Luisita farmworkers indeed restless

DAR Secretary Rafael “Ka Paeng” Mariano (left) shakes hands with Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos, UMA Secretary General, in a dialogue between the DAR and Hacienda Luisita farmworkers last month.

 

This is our response to Manila Times Chairman Emeritus Dr. Dante Ang’s article – “Is DAR Secretary Mariano undermining Duterte?”  which appeared on the front page of The Manila Times on August 21, 2016.

Hacienda Luisita farmworkers indeed restless

Allow us to humbly emphasize to Manila Times Chairman Emeritus Dr. Dante Ang that he got it horribly wrong when he wrote that Hacienda Luisita farmworker beneficiaries (FWBs) are getting restless – only because they would want to go ahead with so-called “industrial development” of a 500-hectare disputed area within the controversial sugar estate.

Dr. Ang is indeed correct in describing Hacienda Luisita farmworkers as “restless.” But this restlessness – more of dread and disgust – is directed and due mainly to the systemic violence, deception and landgrabbing inflicted upon them by one Cojuangco-Aquino cacique president after another.

In so many words, the new Secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Rafael “Ka Paeng” Mariano was unfairly painted by Dr. Ang as a mere troublemaker who is deliberately undermining President Duterte’s vision, just to supposedly further the Left’s agenda. Duterte even describes himself as a “Leftist” – why then should there be reason for alarm? For Luisita farmworkers, Ka Paeng who has been marching among their ranks for decades, embodies their aspirations for genuine land reform and social justice. The Ka Paeng of the peasant movement, even now that he is at the DAR’s helm, never fails to stress the weight of the people’s movement and collective struggle which Luisita farmworkers have been waging for so long despite all odds.

Let us stop spreading worn out, malicious intrigues against Leftists in the Duterte administration. Let us instead focus on the real monsters.

Under the rule of the haciendero heir BS Aquino and his minions within his erstwhile yellow enclaves at the DAR, the Tarlac courts, government units, and police and military establishment – the 2012 landmark Supreme Court decision for total land distribution in Hacienda Luisita has atrociously come to this:

Aquino implemented “tambiolo land reform” or land reform by draw lots that resulted in massive dislocation, confusion, and conflict among beneficiaries and residents. This scheme only enabled the reconcentration of land back to the Cojuangco-Aquinos through their dummy financiers called “aryendadors” who promoted the illicit lease and sale of farmlots. In short, the so-called “land distribution” accomplished by Aquino was nothing but a complete sham.

The yellow DAR deliberately excluded more than a thousand hectares of land for distribution. These areas are still under the effective control of different corporate avatars of the Cojuangco-Aquinos such as the Tarlac Development Corporation (TADECO), Luisita Realty Corporation, Luista Land, Central Azucarera de Tarlac and other firms. This is contrary to the DAR’s own land reform mandate and the Supreme Court order for the DAR to subject all other agricultural lands in Luisita for distribution.

Under the yellow DAR, several trumped-up criminal cases were filed against leaders and members of the Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (AMBALA*) to intimidate and harass the organized ranks of farmworkers and their supporters. Justice remains elusive to victims of the Hacienda Luisita massacre and the spate of extrajudicial killings in Luisita since 2004, even as fresh human rights violations are being committed such as bulldozing of crops, burning of homes, mauling and illegal arrests.

Militarization persists inside Hacienda Luisita. The company headquarters of the 31st IB 3rd Mechanized Battalion is located right in the middle of the TADECO disputed area in Barangay Balete. Paramilitary CAFGU detachments are found in almost all barangays of Hacienda Luisita.

To seek land distribution of 500 hectares of idle, but prime agricultural land is but just, especially now that whole farming communities were displaced by Aquino’s tambiolo land reform. AMBALA in fact seeks to nullify the whole sham land reform process instituted by BS Aquino and correct all the injustices against farmworkers.

AMBALA sought to revoke the conversion order issued by DAR covering 500 hectares of land under the Hacienda Luisita, Inc. (HLI) in January 2012, before the SC released its final and executory decision. The area is now controlled by RCBC, the Luisita Industrial Park, Co, and Luisita Land.

Up to now, the Cojuangcos have not paid the FWBs its debt of P1.33 billion or the farmworkers’ share from the sale of HLI assets, including the 500-hectare area under dispute. The previous DAR maneuvered to ensure that the Cojuangco-Aquinos had a say in the auditing process, effectively causing its delay. Other than this, there is a need to investigate the anomalous construction of a solar power plant in the disputed area. The plant is a public-private partnership project approved by BS Aquino with PetroGreen, a sister company of RCBC. Such project was never the purpose of land conversion when HLI’s request was granted by DAR way back in 1996.

The previous DAR’s own deliberate sluggishness made the petition for revocation “dormant.” The petition was never acted upon even as violence, outright bribery and evil maneuvers were being unleashed by RCBC and the Cojuangcos against farmworkers through “Oplan April Spring.” Disinformation and intrigue – branding the farmworkers as mere “anti-development troublemakers” and projecting the landlords and landgrabbers as virtuous, benevolent saviors – characterize this dirty ploy. The evil “April Spring” attack against farmworkers only steeled AMBALA’s organized ranks to carry on with the struggle.

To describe Hacienda Luisita farmworkers – or principled peasant leaders such as Ka Paeng – as anti-development or anti-industrialization is to expose our ignorance, the prejudice and contempt many of us have against the peasantry’s just struggle for genuine land reform.  Progress and development must spring from genuine land reform and national industrialization – not from violent evictions, landgrabbing, exploitation and oppression long practiced by oligarchs such as the Cojuangco-Aquinos.

DANILO RAMOS
Secretary General
Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA)

 

*AMBALA is UMA’s local affiliate in Hacienda Luisita, Tarlac.

#TiempoMuerto | Negros sugar workers occupy Hacienda Ilimnan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 13, 2016

More than 40 hacienda workers occupied Hacienda Illiman in Barangay Sta Rosa, Murcia, Negros Occidental to plant food crops last Monday, July 11, at 10 in the morning.

This is the latest initiative by the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) to establish the bungkalan or land cultivation areas to ease hunger of farmworkers toiling for slave wages in vast sugar haciendas in Negros Island. The Hda. Ilimnan Farm Workers Association-NFSW is an affiliate of the national agriworkers center Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA).

Hacienda Illimnan is a 155-hectare property formerly owned by the Arguelles family who sold the land to the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental in 2010. Since then, the land has been a subject of a long running legal battle between supposed land reform beneficiaries composed of hacienda workers and the provincial government.

In May 2016, the Bureau of Legal Assistance or BALA of the DAR Central office finally issued a decision denying the Application for Exemption filed by the Provincial Government. The DAR – Negros Occidental then issued a Memorandum to Proceed to start the process for land coverage immediately.

The land has been applied for CARP coverage by more than 100 hacienda workers sometime in 1993. In 1998, the DAR in Murcia town had the beneficiaries sign the Application to Purchase and Farmers Undertaking or APFU, a promissory note to ensure amortization payments under the CARP law.

Reeling from the effects of the El Nino phenomenon that struck late last year until April this year, further aggravated by the current off-milling season or Tiempo Muerto which started last June and will peak in this month of August, the farm workers decided to occupy and cultivate the land to plant palay as a means to solve hunger and lack of income caused by the absence of productive work in haciendas.

Yesterday afternoon, July 12, an emergency dialogue was conducted between the representative of the hacienda workers and the Provincial Government Legal Office, Atty. Jose Maria Valencia, with the presence of the Chief of Negros Occidental Police Office and PARO Tess Mabunay of DAR – Negros Occidental.

The dialogue ended in a deadlock with a threat from the Chief of Police of Murcia that any farmer who dares to enter Ilimnan to cultivate the land today will be arrested and jailed.

In the face of hunger and without work in the hacienda, the farmworkers stood their ground and will continue to plant palay and other food crops, despite threats of imprisonment.

“Long after the expiration of the bogus CARP law, supposed beneficiaries still suffer harassment from authorities who are supposed to protect the interest of tillers. We laud the courage of the farmworkers in Hacienda Ilimnan,” said Danilo Ramos, UMA Secretary General.

“A new and genuine land reform law must be put in place to protect our farmers and farmworkers. We therefore push for the immediate enactment of House Bill 555, or the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) re-filed by Anakpawis Partylist Rep. Ariel Casilao in the 17th Congress,” said Ramos.

References:     DANNY TABURA
                          Chairman, MP No. 09124373899
                           Hda. Illiman Farm Workers Association – NFSW
 

                           GI ESTRADA, UMA Media Officer, 09166114181

Bukas na Liham sa Bagong Pangulo ng Bansa, Rodrigo Roa Duterte

 

Rodrigo Duterte sa isang electoral forum na inorganisa ng  mga magsasaka noong Pebrero. (Photo by Friends of Anakpawis)

Kaming mga manggagawang agrikultural ay mga buhay na patunay ng pang-aapi sa Daang Matuwid – patuloy naming dinaranas ang mala-aliping kalagayan at marahas na panunupil sa kamay ng mga haciendero, dambuhalang korporasyon at sa kamay ng mismong gobyerno.

Sa eleksyon ay nanaig kayo sa maruming pulitika ng mga hacienderong Cojuangco, Aquino, at Roxas-Araneta, na matagal nang nambubusabos sa mga manggagawang-bukid sa malalawak na asyendang tubuhan na ilang dekada o daantaon nang kontrolado ng kanilang mga angkan. Gayunman, sa ilalim ng inyong panunungkulan, makakapanaig na rin po ba ang tinig naming maliliit na manggagawa sa agrikultura?

Kami ang bumabalikat ng pinakamabibigat na trabaho sa mga asyenda at plantasyon ng tubo, saging, pinya, palmera, goma at iba pa – ngunit kami rin ang may pinakamababang antas ng pasahod ayon sa itinakda ng regional wage boards ng gobyerno. Kami’y nagtatrabaho nang seasonal at kontraktwal kaya karaniwang walang permanenteng trabaho at walang benepisyo. Ang hinuhulugang pensyon ay karaniwan ding kinukupit ng kumpanya o haciendero. Kami ay bulnerable sa sakuna, kalamidad at taunang pagtigil ng paggawa dulot ng off-milling season o tiempo muerto. Kahit walang bagyo, tagtuyot o delubyo, natural na kami at ang aming mga pamilya ay gutom.

Ang mga manggagawang-bukid ng Hacienda Luisita, halimbawa, ay makailang ulit nang pinangakuan ng repormang agraryo at hustisyang panlipunan – ngunit mula kay Magsaysay noong 1957 na kilala bilang “makamasang pangulo” hanggang sa populistang rehimen ng erederang si Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino noong 1986, at hanggang sa ilalim ng pinakahuling hacienderong pangulo na si BS Aquino – puro panloloko, pandarahas at pangangamkam ang dinanas ng mga manggagawang-bukid sa Luisita. Ang desisyon ng Korte Suprema noong 2012 para sa kumpletong pamamahagi ng lupain ng asyenda sa libu-libong magbubukid ay maibabaon na lang ba sa limot ngayon o maisasama na lang sa hukay ng pumanaw na punong mahistrado?

Mananatili ba kaming nagbubungkal ng lupa na hindi namin pag-aari? Patuloy ba kaming aasa sa lupang ipinapangako ng isang lipas at pekeng programa sa repormang agraryo na binalangkas at ipinapatupad ng mga haciendero? Patuloy ba kaming lilinlangin sa mga iskemang corporative, Stock Distribution Option (SDO), leaseback at iba pang Agribusiness Venture Arrangement (AVA) na nagsasabi na ang lupa ay amin na diumanong pag-aari at amin nang malilinang, ngunit malilinang lang kung patuloy kaming magiging aliping sahuran at lilikha ng limpak-limpak na produkto at tubo para sa pakinabang ng iilan? Ganito ang kalagayan ng mga manggagawang agrikultural lalo na sa mga plantasyon sa Mindanao kung saan daan-daan libong ektarya ng lupain ang kontrolado ng mga Cojuangco, Lorenzo, Floirendo at ng mga dambuhalang multinasyunal. Ang aliping kalagayan ng mga manggagawang agrikutural ay mas palalawakin ba sa planong ekspansyon ng mga plantasyong ito sa Negros, Bohol, Palawan at iba pang panig ng bansa?

Sa ilalim ng bagong administrasyon, ang pagsasabi namin ng katotohanan at pagtuligsa sa mga makapangyarihan ay patuloy bang susuklian ng pangungutya, marahas na panunupil at masaker na gaya ng aming naranasan mula Escalante, Mendiola, Hacienda Luisita at Kidapawan? Kami na siya na ngang mga biktima ng karahasan ay itinuturing pa na mga kaaway ng estado at patuloy na tinutugis ng pulis at militar, sinasampahan ng patung-patong na gawa-gawang kaso, at pinagdurusa sa iligal na pagkakabilanggo.

Kadusta-dusta ang aming kalagayan. Hayaan po ninyo na iparating namin sa inyo ang ilan sa aming mga kagyat na panawagan:

Lupa at hustisya para sa mga manggagawang-bukid ng Hacienda Luisita – imbestigahan ang mga anomalya gaya ng panunuhol at kumpensasyon gamit ang milyun-milyong pera sa DAP, at tuluyang ipawalambisa ang pekeng pamamahagi ng lupa na ipinatupad ng gobyernong Aquino. Imbestigahan at parusahan ang lahat ng sangkot sa masaker noong 2004 at sa patuloy na panloloko, pandarahas, pangangamkam sa mga manggagawang bukid ng Hacienda Luisita.

Seguridad sa trabaho – Wakasan ang kontraktwalisasyon sa paggawa. Ibasura ang Labor Department Order No. 18-A Series of 2011 at iba pang naglelegalisa sa kontraktwalisasyon sa mga probisyon ng Herrera Law at Labor Code.

Nakabubuhay na sahod – Suportahan ang pagtataas ng sahod ng mga manggagawa. Buwagin ang mga regional wage boards at ipatupad ang pambansang minimum na sahod na P750 para sa mga manggagawa sa pribadong sektor, kabilang na rito ang mga manggagawa sa agrikultura.

Benepisyo at serbisyo, hindi korapsyon at negosyo – Imbestigahan ang mga tiwaling opisyal at ganid na haciendero at miller na nagpapasasa sa sugar levy mula sa Social Amelioration Program (SAP) na dapat ay para sa mga manggagawang agrikultural at manggagawang-bukid sa tubuhan. Direktang ipamahagi ang daan-milyong pondo ng SAP para sa mga tunay na benepisyaryo. Itulak ang pagpapasa ng P2,000 SSS Pension Hike na hinadlangan ni Aquino sa pamamagitan ng veto.

Bigas, hindi bala – maagap na ayuda sa mga magbubukid at mamamayan sa panahon ng sakuna at kalamidad; partikular na suporta para sa mga manggagawang-bukid sa tubuhan na apektado ng taunang tiempo muerto.

Kalayaan, katarungan at kapayapaan – Wakasan ang pampulitikang panunupil at militarisasyon sa kanayunan. Itaguyod at pangalagaan ang karapatang mag-organisa, umanib sa mga asosasyon, magmobilisa at magpahayag ng mga saloobin at hinaing. Katarungan para sa Kidapawan at lahat ng biktima ng panunupil ng estado. Ibasura ang lahat ng mga gawa-gawang kaso laban sa mga magsasaka at mamamayang nakikipaglaban para sa kalayaan at karapatan. Palayain ang lahat ng mga bilanggong pulitikal. Ipagpatuloy ang usapang pangkapayapaan.

Lupang sakahan, hindi libingan – Ipatupad ang tunay na reporma sa lupa. Itigil ang ekspansyon ng mga dambuhalang agrikultural na plantasyon. Suportahan o i-“certify as urgent” ang pagpapasa ng bagong batas sa reporma sa lupa o Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill.

Kung walang tunay na reporma sa lupa, walang tunay na pag-unlad sa buong bayan. Patuloy na maghihirap ang masang anakpawis kung masasailalim pa rin ang bansa sa mga neoliberal na patakaran, at sa mga dikta o imposisyong pang-ekonomiya, pampulitika at militar na pabor lamang sa mga dayuhan at imperyalista.

Kung kami’y mananatiling busabos at alipin, kami at ang nakararaming magbubukid sa kanayunan lalo na ang ating kabataan, ay patuloy na dadayo at magpapalabuy-laboy sa mga syudad at hanggang sa ibayong dagat para sa walang kapararakang paghahanap ng disenteng pamumuhay at hanapbuhay. Araw-araw na nakaamba sa mamamayan ang panganib na masadlak sa mas masahol na kalagayan gaya ng droga, prostitusyon at kriminalidad – mga salot na ipinangako ninyong pupuksain sa lalong madaling panahon.

Ang pagtugon sa laganap na kaguluhan sa ating bayan, sa armadong tunggalian, at sa malawakang gutom at kahirapan ay nagsisimula sa pakikinig at pagbibigay-tinig sa maliliit na mamamayan na tulad namin – sa tulad naming mga manggagawa sa agrikultura at manggagawang-bukid na matagal nang hinahamak ngunit patuloy na nakikibaka para sa hustisyang panlipunan, tunay na kalayaan at demokrasya sa ating bansa.

 

DANILO RAMOS
Pangkalahatang Kalihim
Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA)

‘REAP Mindanao Network’ launched to resist expansion of plantations in peasant, lumad and Moro areas

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OCTOBER 28, 2015

Reference: GI ESTRADA, 0916.6114181

The Network Resisting Expansion of Agricultural Plantations in Mindanao or REAP Mindanao Network was launched today at the University of the Philippines, Diliman in a conference spearheaded by people’s organizations and advocacy groups as part of the protest caravan Manilakbayan ng Mindanao.

The launch was led by the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines’ (RMP) national office and Northern Mindanao chapter, Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA), Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR), Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), with support from the All UP Workers Alliance, CONTEND-UP and the Hongkong-based group, Asia Monitor Resource Center (AMRC).

More or less 500,000 hectares of land in Mindanao are now covered with plantation crops primarily for the export market. This area is equivalent to 12 percent of Mindanao’s agricultural land. The groups noted that the government is planning to aggressively increase the scope of various agricultural plantations in Mindanao. The people fear that this drive will definitely destroy Mindanao’s food sources and the country’s last remaining frontiers. These areas are located in peasant communities and the ancestral domain of lumad and the Moro people.

REAP Spokesperson Ariel Casilao of Anakpawis Partylist, a labor leader from Southern Mindanao, said that plantation expansion can only be accomplished through the assistance of the military and its so-called investment defense forces which has been tagged as the number one nemesis of the lumad who are defending their lands against mining and plantations.

The government targets for plantation expansion include the following:  256,360 hectares for sugarcane;  150,000 hectares for cacao by 2020; 116,000 hectares for rubber;  87,903 hectares for coffee plantations; and almost one (1) million hectares of oil palm plantations by 2030.

In addition to these, multinational fruit giant Dole Philippines has expressed its intention to expand to at least 12,000 hectares of land for its pineapple plantation; same with Unifrutti, which recently invested P3.7 billion for an expansion of 2,600 hectares of land for banana Cavendish plantations in Moro areas such as Maguindanao.

During the Aquino administration, the unbridled expansion of agricultural plantations has resulted in displacement of numerous lumad and peasant communities as in the case of the A. Brown oil palm venture in Opol, Misamis Oriental.

The state, the military and other security forces, are responsible for violating the rights of the people through continued harassment, vilification and even killings to protect the interests these corporate plantations. Gilbert Paborada, a leader of the Higaonon tribe who strongly opposed to the entry of ABERDI, was killed in 2012. Independent and militant trade unions in Dolefil, Polomolok South Cotabato experienced intense vilification campaign and harassment by the military as part of the previous administration’s counter-insurgency program.

The existence and target expansion of plantations in Mindanao pose serious threats to the environment and health of the people living within and working in the plantations. Use of pesticides and other chemicals have proved to have caused skin and respiratory diseases to workers in oil palm, banana and even pineapple plantations.

Altering the natural landscape (i.e. flattening of mountains) and denudation of natural forests to be replaced to plant agri-plantation crops also proved to have negative impact on soil erosion, biodiversity and sources of water.

The government’s failed agrarian reform program has worked perfectly for the interest of companies as they encouraged agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) to become outgrowers or to lease their lands with onerous contracts. Plantations have also bred many forms of precarious employment victimizing agricultural workers enduring hard labor and exposure to harmful chemicals while being slave like wages.

“Peasants, the Lumad, the Moro people and their supporters have gathered through the REAP Mindanao Network to resist the expansion of plantations. It is a fight for their very survival.”

Planting Hunger

by JOHN MILTON LOZANDE

An errant signpost interrupts the stretch of sugarcane fields in Butong, Quezon, Bukidnon in Mindanao, which is only a few kilometers away from the imposing facade of the Bukidnon Sugar Company, Inc. or Busco, one of the biggest sugar mills in the country.

In other such haciendas, sugar workers call this interlude the tiempo muerto. It is dead season, and the bare quiet along the endless dirtroad seems to be the nagging hunger of farmworkers as they wait for the cane to grow. This painful lull of idleness will be broken by their hard toil when harvest time finally comes along.

Fifteen years after a collective land reform certificate was awarded to sugarcane farmworkers in Hacienda Carmen through the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), the so-called beneficiaries are still slaving away as tapaseros or cane cutters. They are barred from cultivating their own land and growing their own food.

The area marked with a “NO TRESPASSING” signpost is now a barren field stretching a few hundred hectares towards the massive mountain ranges of Bukidnon. The former sugarcane hacienda is now claimed by a corporate agricultural plantation.

The land is reserved for pineapples.

In an interview with UMA, Mang Arnel, one of the original Hacienda Carmen agrarian reform beneficiaries, says theirs is a long and painful story. But for the thousands of farmworkers toiling in sugarcane estates such as Hacienda Luisita, Hacienda Roxas or in the sugarland Negros, this anguished narrative is all too familiar.

Bogus Land Reform

In February 2000, 52 out of the total 130 farmworkers in Hacienda Carmen were initially awarded a 288-hectare parcel through a collective Certificate of Land Ownership Award or mother CLOA.

The beneficiaries were eventually organized by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) as the South East Sugar Workers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (SESWMPC) where non-government organizations and so-called development groups closely linked with government agencies have brokered agricultural projects using land reform funds. The SESWMPC held the collective certificate for 319.47 hectares. If distributed, each beneficiary would hold 2.19 hectares of land.

The Hacienda Carmen sugarcane estate was assessed by the DAR and the Land Bank to have a market value so high each beneficiary would be obliged to pay the government almost a million pesos for their individual parcel. Under the CARP, the government must pay “just compensation” to the landlords which will eventually be sourced from amortization payments of beneficiaries. Amortization must be completed for a period of 30 years before beneficiaries could finally own the parcels of land awarded through land reform.

Farmers lament that these obligations are utterly inappropriate without adequate government support for their agricultural production. Each beneficiary was compelled to pay the Land Bank a yearly amortization of Php 27,813. After only three years of bad harvests and debt traps, it was estimated that 99% of the beneficiaries in Hacienda Carmen cannot fulfill these heavy payments.

Without any assistance from the government or its patently bogus land reform program, some of the beneficiaries were compelled to pawn their lands. Wealthy landlords and sugar planters saw the hapless and impoverished beneficiaries as easy prey. By 2003, beneficiaries were coerced to enter into lease agreements where they were paid Php 5,000 per hectare per year – an amount that Mang Arnel claims is not even enough to cover their yearly amortization obligations.

By 2008, the annual rent went as high as Php 15,000 per hectare. But as the sugar planters dictated the terms of these lease agreements, the supposed land reform beneficiaries have totally lost effective control over their awarded parcels.

At first, the beneficiaries were hired as farmhands in their own land until eventually, the sugar planters hauled in their own people to do work for cheaper wages. Before long, some of the beneficiaries were duped to sell their lands to unscrupulous buyers evading CARP restrictions through dubious waivers.

By 2012, the Land Bank and the DAR warned beneficiaries that the awarded land reform certificate will soon be cancelled because of their failure to pay amortization. By this time, the empty threat mouthed by these insincere and irresponsible government institutions was just like rubbing salt on their open wounds.

Bitter Pineapple

The shady deals forged by sugar planters with individual beneficiaries have now allowed the entry of giant agribusiness firms. According to Mang Arnel, wealthy sugar planters with the collusion of local government officials have entered Hacienda Carmen through a 15-year contract with DAVCO, without the knowledge of residents and land reform beneficiaries in the area.

The Davao Agri-Ventures Corporation, Inc. or DAVCO, a firm established by the late agribusiness mogul Antonio Floirendo Sr. and now headed by his son, Antonio Floirendo Jr., is notorious for encroaching into peasant and lumad or indigenous peoples’ communities in Bukidnon as part of its aggressive and seemingly uninterrupted expansion thrust.

Originally engaged in fresh banana production, the Floriendos own the Tagum Development Corporation or TADECO which controls vast banana plantations with complete processing facilities in Davao del Norte. Since then, the corporation has ventured into several businesses including pineapple production. With its enterprise with global fruit giant Del Monte, DAVCO exports an average of at least 8.5 million boxes of Del Monte gold pineapples per year, sold to trading partners in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, the Middle East and New Zealand.

Since last year, Hacienda Carmen land reform beneficiaries with support from advocates and peasant groups such as Kahugpungan sa mga Mag-uuma (Farmers Association) or Kasama-Bukidnon, affiliated with the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and the Organisasyon sa Yanong Obrerong Nagkahiusa (Organization of United Farmworkers) or Ogyon, UMA’s local affiliate in Bukidnon province, barricaded the area from DAVCO and embarked on a land cultivation initiative to produce food for the community such as corn, peanuts, cassava and other root crops.

Farmers set up and manned the barricades unfazed. Even while engaged in production, farmers were constantly threatened and harassed by armed goons employed by DAVCO.

Earlier this year, after two successful harvests by the farmers, the company’s bulldozers rolled in into their plots and completely destroyed their precious food crops.

The DAR Adjudication Board has finally intervened – but in favor of the pineapple plantation. Charges were slapped against farmers, barring them from their own land as bitterly prompted by the menacing “NO TRESPASSING” signpost.

This kind of violence – spawned by bogus land reform and impunity – is planting hunger among the country’s food producers.

___

JOHN MILTON LOZANDE is the acting chairperson of the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura or UMA. He is also the secretary general of the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) based in Negros Island.

UMA, KMP, the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR), and the national office and Northern Mindanao chapter of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP), will spearhead the formation of a national action network resisting the expansion of agricultural plantations in Mindanao.

The formation to be called REAP Mindanao Network will be launched during the National Conference on Mindanao Plantations on October 28, 9:00 am at the UP College of Education Auditorium in Diliman, Quezon City. The conference, which is part of activities of the island-wide protest caravan Manilakbayan ng Mindanao 2015, is open to the public.  

 

Agriworkers slam harassment complaint vs aerial spray ban activist

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 13, 2015
Reference: Gi Estrada, UMA media officer – 09166114181

The Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA), a national federation of agricultural workers, today decried the revival of harassment complaints against Dr. Romeo Quijano, an internationally-known and respected health expert and staunch activist against aerial spray and pesticide poisoning.

Six individuals from Sitio Camocaan, Hagonoy, Davao del Sur reportedly filed complaints of “unprofessionalism” against Dr. Quijano before the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) for “spreading lies” that hurt the local banana industry, particularly the expansion of agricultural corporation Lapanday Agricultural Development Corporation (LADECO) based in Davao provinces.

The core of the complaint is Dr. Quijano’s extensive study and expose on pesticide poisoning in LADECO banana plantations, published as newspaper features such as the article “Poisoned Lives” which appeared in the now-defunct The Philippine Post in 2000.

“The complaints against Dr. Quijano are not new. He was already slapped with multi-million peso libel suits by LADECO and other influential persons, groups and even giant multinational companies with insatiable business interests,” said Ranmil Echanis, UMA secretary-general.

Echanis said that Dr. Quijano’s study in Camocaan (Kamukhaan) highlights the case of 150 families poisoned by the use of pesticides in a nearby banana plantation controlled by LADECO. The poisoning has caused widespread disease and even the death of several residents and banana plantation workers since the early 1980s. Persistent ground and aerial spraying of hazardous pesticides such as Dithane, Baycor, Furadan, Decis, Nemacur and Gramoxone in Camocaan over the years have also polluted soil and water killing vegetation, animals and fish and thereby affecting the livelihood of farmers and fishermen. Workers directly subjected to hazardous conditions are also reportedly underpaid, according to Dr. Quijano.

The credible research by Dr. Quijano led to the enactment of a Davao City ordinance banning aerial spray in 2009.  In 2005, Dr. Quijano received the prestigious Jenifer Altman Award which “honors the pursuit of science in the public interest, and highlight(s) scientists who have held true to their belief in the scientific process, and the public’s right to full information.”

LADECO is controlled by the Lorenzo family, who are now also the newest business partners of the Cojuangco-Aquino family in Hacienda Luisita and the Central Azucarera de Tarlac (CAT).

UMA said that big business in cahoots with corrupt government officials are pushing for the unbridled expansion of banana plantations in Mindanao, to the detriment of agricultural workers directly handling pesticides without protective gear, and of whole communities regularly exposed to aerial spray.

“These unscrupulous corporations want to make it appear that the use of harmful chemicals is a non-issue which should not obstruct the ‘boost’ in the banana industry. The health and environmental effects of these chemicals are only a few of the many urgent and compelling reasons why the public and the government must act to reexamine the expansion and the very existence of these corporate agricultural plantations,” said Echanis.

Echanis added that the displacement of peasant communities, and the recent spate of extra-judicial killings of lumad or indigenous peoples in Mindanao is related to the insidious expansion of agricultural plantations, dubbed as “the other face of plunder in Mindanao” aside from the violent intrusion of giant mining firms.

According to reports, the total land area planted with different varieties of bananas all over the country has already reached 441,951 hectares in 2014.  Majority of the country’s banana yield is sourced from Mindanao, which is produced from 243,450 hectares.

To highlight the effects of these corporate plantations, UMA, the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) in Manila and the Northern Mindanao Region and the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) will spearhead the formation of a national action network resisting the expansion of agricultural plantations in Mindanao.

Dr. Quijano will be one of the main speakers in the National Conference on Mindanao Plantations to be held on October 28, 9:00 am at the UP College of Education Auditorium in Diliman, Quezon City. The network, to be called REAP Mindanao Network will be launched during the conference. A press briefing will follow.

Aside from Dr. Quijano, local labor leader Ariel Casilao of Anakpawis and other representatives of affected lumad, peasant and working class communities in Mindanao will provide testimonials on the impact of corporate agricultural plantations in the island.

The conference, which is part of activities of the island-wide protest caravan Manilakbayan ng Mindanao 2015, is open to the public.

Dr. Quijano, a professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila, is also the convener of Resistance and Solidarity Against Agrochemical TNCs (RESIST) network and president of the Philippine arm of the international advocacy group Pesticide Action Network (PAN-Philippines).

REAP Mindanao Network Resisting Expansion of Agricultural Plantations

Mindanao has been touted as the ‘Land of Promise’ because of its abundant natural resources and organic assets. Almost a hundred years since this promise of development was ushered in by foreign agricorporations and plantations in Mindanao, the peoples of this war-torn island still wallow in the backward and impoverished conditions plaguing the rest of the Philippine countryside.

This island south of the Philippines is home to more than half of the total estimated mineral wealth in the country. Since the 1920s, Mindanao has also been host to vast plantations of raw materials and export crops controlled by intrusive transnational, multinational and conniving local agribusiness firms.

The island hosts the largest rubber, banana and pineapple plantations in the country. Giant fruit companies Del Monte, Sumifru and Dole’s plantations encroach peasant communities and ancestral lands of indigenous peoples or lumad in Bukidnon, South Cotabato, Sarangani, Compostela Valley and Davao provinces. The island also boasts of about one (1) million hectares of grasslands that are now gradually being transformed into oil palm estates such as those in Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato, Caraga and Northern Mindanao region.

Vast tracts of land in Mindanao remain targets for expansion of the world’s biggest agribusiness companies operating these plantations. The neoliberal design of public-private partnerships (PPPs) and contract agriculture through various agribusiness venture arrangements (AVAs) sanctioned by state policy further highlight the dismal failure of agrarian reform in the country. The unbridled expansion of these plantations – now at an alarming and unprecedented rate covering tens of thousands of hectares only during the past few years – has pushed Mindanao’s peoples deeper into poverty.

Mindanao is a land whose peoples are deprived of their right to land and life, whose peasants and indigenous tribes are driven off their lands to make way for disastrous economic programs. In truth, plantations bring only false promises of development and superficial growth founded upon plunder and exploitation.

Issues surrounding agricultural plantations in Mindanao

Landless agricultural workers toiling these plantations remain dirt poor – exposed to hazardous working conditions, slave-like wages and brutal repression.  Furthermore, plantations endanger whole communities with the adverse health and environmental effects of crop conversion and massive use of agrochemicals.

Resistance is the people’s logical response to harsh conditions and atrocities brought about by agricultural plantations in Mindanao. The peoples’ legitimate grievances often fall on deaf ears. Mindanao is a land militarized to allow for the continued plunder of its minerals, energy potentials and land resources by a powerful few.

Issues surrounding the existence and continued unbridled expansion of vast agricultural plantations in Mindanao remain unaddressed. The war for plunder is often an obscured aspect in the discussion of the centuries-old armed conflict in Mindanao. The dominance of agricultural plantations in Mindanao has not been scrutinized through public debate, principally with regard the question of national patrimony, agrarian reform, social justice, sustainable development and the environment.

Despite the hundreds of thousands of hectares of land devoted to plantations in Mindanao, pressing social and environmental issues surrounding these giant agribusiness ventures ironically seem too small. These issues are deliberately hidden from the public eye.

The REAP Mindanao Network

Through the initiatives of people’s organizations, concerned institutions, advocates and affected communities and sectors, a national action network will be established as a coordinating center to actively synergize efforts and struggles against the expansion of agricultural plantations in Mindanao. Thus, the Network Resisting Expansion of Agricultural Plantations in Mindanao (REAP Mindanao Network) will also serve as coordinating center to create public awareness on critical issues related to Mindanao plantations.

The network aims to gain broad local and international support and will utilize various strategies and forms of engagement such as forums, dialogues, policy advocacy, social media presence, solidarity with workers, communities, consumers and other stakeholders, public mobilization, and effective mass actions.

Our calls

1. End land monopoly, landgrabbing and dispossession. Stop the dislocation and marginalization of peasant and indigenous peoples’ orlumad communities. Advocate for a genuine land reform to counter failed land reform policies which legitimize onerous public-private partnerships (PPPs) and agribusiness venture arrangements (AVAs) that allow for the aggressive and unbridled expansion of plantations.

2. Respect for life, livelihood, traditional beliefs and culture of indigenous peoples’ or lumad communities affected by the intrusion of agricultural plantations. Uphold their right to self-determination and right to defend their ancestral domain.

3. Uphold agricultural workers’ welfare against retrenchment, contractualization and other forms of flexible labor, slave-like wages, health and work hazards and inhuman working conditions in plantations and related mills, factories and packaging plants. Attend to issues of child labor and the conditions of women in the workplace.

4. End impunity and uphold the peoples’ civil and political rights. Stop extra-judicial killings, illegal arrests and detention, and threats against peasant and labor leaders and environmental advocates. End trade union repression, violent demolition, harassment, displacement and militarization of peasant and lumad communities to make way for agricultural plantations.

5. Stop environmental degradation and ecological destruction brought about by the expansion of plantations. Crop and land use conversion, deforestation, use of heavy equipment and rampant use of chemicals and pesticides for plantations result in land, air and water pollution, massive soil erosion, and increased vulnerability of communities during natural calamities.

6. Highlight the agriculture sector’s crucial role in achieving genuine national development through genuine land reform, national industrialization and other sustainable and pro-people measures. Tackle food security and food sovereignty issues and critique state policy allowing foreign big businesses to dictate national agricultural production with targets and priorities conflicting with the country’s actual food needs. Bring attention to communities suffering hunger due to crop conversion, disappearance of staple crops and native seeds, and destruction of traditional food sources.

About the convening organizations

1. Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) is an aggrupation of Catholic men and women religious, priests, and lay people working for the rural poor—farmers, agricultural workers, fisherfolks and indigenous peoples—for genuine land reform and the fullness of life. It is a Mission Partner of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP).  RMP-NMR is the main convener of the Conference. The RMP in Northern Mindanao Region (RMP-NMR) acts as the initiator of the Network and will serve as the Network secretariat.

2. Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP or Philippine Peasant Movement) is a democratic and militant movement of landless peasants, small farmers, farm workers, rural youth and peasant women. It has effective leadership over a total of 1.3 million rural people with 65 provincial chapters and 15 regional chapters nationwide.

3. Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA or Federation of Agricultural Workers) established in 2005 is the national progressive center of unions, federations, associations, and organizations of agricultural workers in vast monocrop estates and agricultural plantations, advancing social justice, genuine land reform, and national industrialization.

4. Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTHUR) is a labour rights service institution that was established in 1984 by group of religious people, labour rights advocate and trade unionists to engage the state and capitalist’s human rights violations not with an equally evil force but with awareness that strength and emancipation lies in the hands of workers.

Be a part of the REAP Mindanao Network, join the launching!

The Network will be launched during the National Conference on Plantations in Mindanao on 28 October 2015 (9am) at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City. The Conference will gather around 300 individuals from agricultural plantation-affected communities of Mindanao, national people’s organizations, concerned institutions and advocates to discuss the issue, come up with official analysis and agree on common points of action.

Interested? Contact us at uma.pilipinas@gmail.com for a copy of the invitation and other related documents.

Lumad, peasant killings not Aquino policy? Let’s ask Luisita farmworkers

PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 10, 2015

Responding to a reporter’s query on the spate of killings of indigenous peoples or lumads in Mindanao, BS Aquino nonchalantly said: “There is no campaign to kill anybody in this country.” What to expect from a haciendero president who is himself culpable for the gruesome massacre of farmworkers in their own backyard, Hacienda Luisita, more than ten years ago?

What’s happening in peasant and lumad communities infinitely speaks louder than Aquino’s incoherent ramblings. It is shocking that Aquino still has the temerity to speak of his government serving the people, while his regime is awfully busy pandering to insatiable business interests of private enterprises, giant multinational firms and his landlord kind in Hacienda Luisita, in Mindanao, and all other spots in the country coveted by plunderers.

The Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA), its local affiliates and the vast number of agricultural workers specially those toiling for plantations in Mindanao, stand in solidarity with the lumads and vow to fight state-sponsored attacks against our land and life. It is not only foreign large-scale mining firms which have encroached on ancestral lands of indigenous peoples but also giant agricorporations which are now geared toward aggressive expansion of export crop plantations in Mindanao.

Aquino may say that outright killing is not his policy, but he is unmistakably zealous in promoting and implementing neoliberal policies and hosting imperialist charades such as the Obama visit and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings culminating in November. Aquino is fully aware that disastrous economic prescriptions imposed by imperialist globalization have been slowly killing Filipino workers and peasants.

The same Stock Distribution Option (SDO) mode of “land reform” already exposed and revoked in Hacienda Luisita, and several other mutations of this flawed non-land transfer scheme, is still in effect in vast haciendas and plantations victimizing millions of peasants. These Agribusiness Venture Arrangements (AVAs) allow for the reconcentration of lands back to big landlords and the furious intrusion of giant multinational plantations into peasant communities and ancestral domain of lumads.

According to Anakpawis Partylist, peasants comprise an alarming majority – 198 out of 229 – of the victims of extrajudicial killings (EJK) under Aquino. Of these peasant EJK victims, 55 are lumads.

Before the recent killings of Manobo leader Dionel Campos, Bello Sinzo and Emerito Samarca of the Alcadev lumad school in Surigao del Sur, or of the massacre of five Manobos in Pangantucan, Bukidnon – there was Gilbert Paborada, the Higaonon leader who was killed in 2012 to make way for ABERDI oil palm plantations in Opol, Misamis Oriental. Marcel Lambon, another Higaonon leader of Impasug-ong, Bukidnon was gunned down by paramilitary forces in 2014 also because of his stance against oil palm expansion.

Earlier this year, Tata Biato of the Manobo-Pulangihons organization Tindoga, was shot dead by goons of the Rancho Montalvan firm of the Lorenzos. Two other lumads, who were with Biato to attend to their bungkalan or land cultivation area, were wounded.  Organized peasants and agricultural workers, some of them also lumads, are targets of killings and harassment related to agrarian disputes and trade union repression.

There is indeed “a campaign to go after criminals,” Aquino says. In the Philippine countryside, it is a perpetual counter-insurgency drive now recycled as Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan. Is this the reason why the 69^th Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines – perpetrators of the massacre of lumads in Paquibato District, Davao City only last June – is the same army unit responsible for the massacre of farmworkers in Hacienda Luisita more than ten years ago?

Is it mere coincidence that Gen. Ricardo Visaya – implicated in several cases of lumad killings and harassment of agricultural workers in Dole’s pineapple plantations in Mindanao – was also the ground commander responsible for the carnage at the sugar workers’ picket line in front of the gates of the Cojuangco-Aquinos’s Central Azucarera de Tarlac in 2004? What is this alarming spate of killings but a war for plunder, a campaign to silence dissent and usher in the pillagers? Is it not Aquino’s policy to kill those “unruly” lumads and peasants who get in his way? Why not ask us Luisita farmworkers?

Rudy Corpuz
Vice-Chairperson, Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang-Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (AMBALA-UMA)

Ranmil Echanis
Secretary General, UMA

c/o Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura
#56  K-9 St. West Kamias, Quezon City
Tel. 799-2009
uma.pilipinas@gmail.com