This article is the second in a series on the important work of KMP. The other three articles are available to read here on the ICHRP website: ICHRP celebrates KMP’s 40 years, KMP and the struggle against fascism, KMP and the anti-imperialist struggle.

The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) was formed out of the unity of farmers and farmworkers in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao to struggle against land monopoly, high land rent, usury, high production costs, low buying prices for farm products, and low wages of farmworkers. Until today, the agricultural system in the Philippines remains feudal; semi-feudal exploitation in the countryside continues, alongside state attacks against the toiling masses.

For decades, peasants and farmworkers across the Philippines have organized and struggled against the semi-feudal system. One prominent struggle occurred in Hacienda Luisita. Beginning in 1956, farmworkers in Hacienda Luisita began organizing the United Luisita Workers Union to assert their rights to land and decent livelihood. Over the years, repression has intensified, culminating in the brutal 2004 Hacienda Luisita massacre, which became a symbol of the failure of bogus land reform. In 2017, the #OccupyLuisita campaign was launched to continue the spirit of the struggle. 2024 marked the 20th anniversary of the Hacienda Luisita massacre, with continued resurgence of farmer & community actions in the hacienda.

Similar peasant- & indigenous-led struggles have occurred across the Philippines, concurrent with increasing bogus land reform programs that fail to properly redistribute land.

The KMP has vigorously advanced land struggles across the Philippines. One key initiative advanced by the organization has been bungkalan, or collective farming, in which peasants maintain, develop, and farm on unused public lands. Peasants form cooperatives and local markets to connect producers directly to consumers.

Under the new challenges of the current Marcos regime — including the opening of agricultural lands to foreign leasing for 99 years, and the presence of U.S. military bases and missile systems in rural communities nationwide — the livelihood and security of farmers are placed in even greater danger. Yet if there is one truth that KMP’s forty years of struggle has proven, it is that the collective strength of the oppressed classes, once organized and united, cannot be suppressed.

With full strength and determination, we must stand with peasants to resist the deepening intervention of the U.S. in the country.

The history of KMP stands as proof that land is not merely a natural resource — it is life, livelihood, and dignity. And so long as there are farmers tilling the soil without their own land, so long as lands are stolen and defenders are killed, the Peasant Movement of the Philippines will remain alive and militantly fighting!

CONTEXT & CALL TO ACTION

This peasant month, From October 11-15, progressive and human rights organizations in the Philippines hosted an International Solidarity mission to document and expose the Filipino people’s struggle against land grabbing and the impacts of widespread militarization in the countryside on peasants and Indigenous peoples. 

Since the first day, ISM teams in Southern Tagalog (Rizal and Occidental Mindoro), Negros Occidental, and Eastern Visayas experienced surveillance, harassment, and intimidation.

Throughout the ISM, delegates documented unidentified people on motorcycles filming delegates, faced questioning by members of the Armed Forces, observed a drone flying above their ISM location, faced police and military presence surrounding ISM venues, and in one case even had Armed Forces enter the main venue of the ISM in Mindoro, scaring away children who were playing there. 

The attempts of the Marcos regime to undermine the International Solidarity Mission are part of the Philippine government’s counterinsurgency campaign which seeks to quash those who are seeking change to the status quo through respect for indigenous sovereignty and genuine land reform. 

Day to day, the peasant movement in the Philippines is resisting various land grabbing attempts of the big landlord class and foreign entities, whether via palm oil plantations,renewable energy projects or other forms of land use conversion that turn people’s land into golf courses, subdivisions or malls.

The struggle of peasants for land, and the people’s resistance is just. While the Marcos regime and its minions plunder the people’s resources through fake flood control projects, they also enrich themselves by overseeing projects in rural areas and serving foreign corporations over the people. 

On October 21st, just days after the completion of the ISM and Asia Pacific People’s Conference on Climate Injustice and Militarism, the peasant movement in the Philippines will mount a major protest action, known as a lakbayan, marching from the Department of Agrarian Reform to Mendiola in Manila to hold the US backed Marcos regime accountable for their crimes agains the people. 

As peasants in the Philippines advance, intensify and develop their struggle, our solidarity support must expand and become more bold.  

In order to amplify the findings of the International Solidarity Mission and the campaigns of peasants in the Philippines, ICHRP is calling for a Global Day of Solidarity with the Peasant Struggle Against Land Grabbing, on October 21st. 

To expose & oppose the responsible, US backed Marcos regime, we are calling upon members and friends of ICHRP to hold actions in front of Philippine embassies and consulates in major cities across the world. 

CALLS

Highlight the following calls in signs, speeches and written publications: 

SUPPORT THE PEASANT STRUGGLE FOR GENUINE LAND REFORM!
END AID TO THE PHILIPPINE MILITARY AND POLICE!
END SUPPORT FOR THE US BACKED MARCOS JR REGIME! 
END SUPPORT FOR CORRUPTION & PLUNDER IN THE PHILIPPINES!
SOLIDARITY IS NOT A CRIME! LONG LIVE INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY!

This article is the first in a series on the important work of KMP. The other three articles are available to read here on the ICHRP website: KMP and the struggle for land, KMP and the struggle against fascism, KMP and the anti-imperialist struggle.

Founded in 1985, the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) unites the peasants and farmworkers across the Philippines to campaign against feudalism, bureaucrat capitalism, and foreign domination, exposing the rotten feudal and foreign-dominated system that has long oppressed the majority of toiling people in the countryside.

Forged Under Fascist Repression

KMP was founded during Ferdinand Marcos Sr’s martial law in response to the state’s long history of deception and repression of the peasant masses. KMP has become a pillar of the broader democratic movement and has been sown via collective farming, established through protest marches, and forged in the struggle for land and justice. KMP asserts: land belongs to the tillers, not landlords or foreign interests.

Champions of Genuine Social Change

Regime after regime has flaunted bogus land reform programs leading to widespread land grabbing, evictions, and militarization crushing farmers generation after generation. 

But KMP envisions progress rooted in the landownership of tillers and in collective, systematic farming. In this alternate system, peasants nurture a vibrant and life-sustaining agriculture, laying the foundation for the growth and sustainability of national industries.

Under the regime of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the nightmares of the past return: 

intensified militarization, abandonment of local agriculture, and subservience to the dictates of U.S. imperialism. Through the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, U.S. military bases and weapons have been reintroduced into the country, endangering the security and livelihood of rural communities. 

Peasant Victories Will Spring from Tireless Struggle

ICHRP applauds KMP’s continued commitment to be the voice and strength of the oppressed and exploited. Through determination and steadfastness, future victories will spring from tireless struggle. We stand by the efforts of KMP to rouse the broadest ranks of farmers and farmworkers to collectively fight for genuine land reform until final victory is won!

Register at ichrp.net/Oct14Webinar

Date and time: October 14 at 5pm Pacific, 8pm Eastern / October 15 at 8am Philippines

Join the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) for a webinar this coming October 14/15 about the anti-corruption protests, and the connections between this issue and the broader plunder and extraction from the Philippines by local and foreign elites – plunder that acutely affects the peasant farmers of the Philippine countryside. Our webinar will feature speakers from the people’s movement in the Philippines, from the peasant movement, as well as members of ICHRP and information on our campaign to support peasant farmers this month. Speakers will include:

• Maria Sol Taule, Lawyer with Karapatan
• Teddy Casiño, Former Congressman with Bayan Muna
• Peter Murphy, Chairperson of ICHRP

Register at ichrp.net/Oct14Webinar

ICHRP Calls Upon Vigilance and Full Process for Justice

Fri Oct 10 – The recent decision of ICC pre-trial judges to deny Former Philippine President Duterte’s request for interim release is the right and just. “We welcome this as a decision that upholds the safety, rights and wishes of the victims who have faced the terror of Duterte’s Presidency,” stated Patricia Lisson, International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) Vice Chairperson. 

The decision comes after Duterte’s camp requested his interim release citing health concerns. In a 23-page response to the request, ICC pre-trial judges determined that as former President of the Philippines, Duterte “appears to have the necessary political contacts” to “help him abscond.” The judges’ decision highlighted that if he was released, he could “pose a threat to (potential) witnesses, either directly or indirectly through his supporters.”

ICHRP, as a human rights organization, calls on the international community to continue to stand in solidarity with the victims by condemning the ongoing harassment faced by their surviving families. “We must not allow this re-victimization of the families and survivors who have been at the forefront of the movement for justice. We must continue to stand behind them, provide any support possible, and demand justice for the thousands of victims of Duterte’s war on the poor and dissent,” says Lisson. 

“This ruling is an affirmation of the victims’ assertion that Duterte is a threat to their rights and must remain behind bars until his trial is seen through to completion,” stated Lisson. “The judges’ decision casts further doubt on the validity of the previous claims of Duterte’s camp that he is  “unfit for trial due” to health concerns. There should be assurance made to the victims and their families that the case moves forward swiftly until there is justice.” 

The Court has previously charged Duterte with “crimes against humanity: in September. The charges include murders for which he has responsibility between 2013 – 2016 during his time as Mayor in Davao City, as well as murders during his time as President, including the killing of 14 so-called “high-value” targets from 2016-2017, as well as 43 murders during “clearance” operations between 2016-2018. These killings for which he is facing trial amount to only a tiny fraction of the 30,000 killings which occurred under his regime and during his all out war against the poor, against dissenters, and against rural and indigenous people. 

Since his Presidency, the ICHRP has thoroughly documented his guilt in crimes against the Filipino people, including war crimes. “President Duterte must face justice for his unspeakable crimes against the people,” said Lisson. “In this time of increasing and worsening corruption in the Philippines, so must all, including current President Marcos, who continues to stoke the anger of the Filipino people for his corruption rife and fascist regime.”

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