The Asian Peasant Coalition (APC) supports its member-organizations in the Philippines such as the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), PAMALAKAYA-Pilipinas, AMIHAN (National Federation of Peasant Women), Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) and the entire Filipino peasantry in commemorating the 22nd anniversary of Mendiola Massacre.
On January 22, 1987, twenty thousand farmers and other progressive forces marched to Malacañang Palace to demand for genuine land reform. However, police forces opened fire which resulted in the death of 13 farmers and injured 39 people. At present, the families and relatives of the victims are still clamoring for justice against those who initiated the shooting.
A year after the massacre, the Aquino administration sought to quell the peasants’ demand with a Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), which actually worsened land monopoly in the countryside. The CARP supposedly ended last year after several extensions, but Congress passed Joint Resolution 19 on December 17, 2008, which extended CARP but without the Compulsory Land Acquisition section.
Danilo Ramos, APC Secretary-General and concurrent Secretary-General of KMP said in a statement, “Twenty-two years after the Mendiola Massacre and three Presidents later, the condition of the agricultural sector remains the same. It is still backward, feudal and export-oriented. Most of all, seven out of ten farmers still do not own the land they have been tilling for decades. Instead of giving support to us peasants, the Arroyo regime has continually been persecuting us. Of the 933 victims of extra-judicial killings, 109 of them are provincial leaders of KMP, while 129 of the 198 victims of enforced disappearance came from the peasant sector.”
As of late, false charges have also been filed against peasant leader’s, among them is Randall “Ka Randy” Echanis, KMP Deputy-Secretary General for External Affairs who was linked with the alleged mass graves in Central Philippines .
Unfortunately, these forms of oppression are also experienced by neighboring Asian countries. Last December 18, 2008, around 500 policemen under the Riau regional police commander Alex Mandalika, together with 1000 thugs sent by PT Arara Abadi ruthlessly attacked, destroyed and burned houses with the use of napalm bombs in Suluk Bongkal village, Riau Province , Indonesia .
Erpan Faryadi, APC Vice-Chairperson for Internal Affairs and Secretary-General of Alliansi Reforma Agraria (AGRA), once again expresses his outrage over the incident. “The Arara Abadi Corporation and the Indonesian government must be made accountable for the destruction of homes and livelihood in Suluk Bongkal village and for the gross human rights violation committed. The villagers have been living peacefully in the area since it was legally acknowledged in the state map made after the Dutch cooperated with the Siak kingdom and in 1959; the area was designated as customary rights forest.”
However, in 1996, the Arara Abadi Corporation, which supplies raw materials to Indah Kiat Pulp and Paper, Sinar Mass Group, was given rights to control the land. Ever since then, the company has tried to evict the villagers by use of force, terror, thuggery and armed violence.
Ramos further reiterates his point, saying “The parallelisms between the experiences of Asian peasants with their struggle for land and agrarian reform against the backdrop of feudal exploitation and state violence show the inherent problem of our society. The government, which is supposed to defend the rights of its citizens, is the one killing the peasants who feed the nation. As Filipino peasants commemorated the anniversary of the Mendiola Massacre in the Philippines , we also commemorated the sacrifices and lives lost by other peasant-martyrs in other countries in their fight for land, livelihood and genuine agrarian reform.###
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