DONATE
Home Blog Page 166

Aquino’s Christmas offering in Hacienda Luisita: Bulldozing farmcrops, mauling, illegal arrest of farmworkers

ICHRP Secretariat
-
0
Aquino’s Christmas offering in Hacienda Luisita: Bulldozing farmcrops, mauling, illegal arrest of farmworkers

21 December, 3:30 pm. Two police mobile cars, two vans of SWAT and 30 security guards of Tarlac Development Corporation (TADECO) including a bulldozer went to the hut of Raymund Alcaide in Barangay Balete where farm workers where converged to defend their right to the land.

During the confrontation, security guards of TADECO told the farm workers that they will continue their bulldozing activities which started on 12 December. The farm workers asked a copy from the court or the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) ordering this. They also showed the police officers and the security guards the notice of land reform coverage of DAR which proves that what the Cojuangcos are land grabbing should be distributed to the farm workers.

Even Tarlac City Councilor Emmy Ladera who negotiated on behalf of the farmers was not respected by the guards and the police under the leadership of Tarlac City Philippine National Police OIC Chief Bayani Razalan, Provincial Director Alex Sintin, chief of Great Star Security Agency, Mauro dela Cruz and TADECO representative Villamor Lagunero.

The police officers and guards brushed off the arguments of the farm workers and proceeded with bulldozing the rice fields of the family of Melchor Ramos. Al Martinez operated the bulldozer. While the bulldozing activity was in progress which was protected by police officers, security guards destroyed the newly rebuilt hut of Raymond Alcaide.

Because the farm workers wanted to stop these, the police ordered their arrest with the support of the security guards. Those who were arrested include Vicente Sambo who was also mauled; Rod and his mother Eufemia Acosta, Ronald Sakay, husband and wife Jose & Elsa Baldiviano, and Manuel and Mamerto Mandigma.

TADECO started its bulldozing activities on 12 December on the rice fields of the farm workers in Barangay Balete. The Alyansa ng Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (AMBALA) and the Unyon ng mga Manggagawang Bukid (UMA) came to know also from DAR Assistant Secretary Teofilo Inocencio that it was also the same day when his office forwarded the Notice of Coverage to Peping Cojuangco. These are located in Barangays Balete and Cutcut – which means the lands being coveted by the Cojuangcos is covered or part of land reform and should be distributed to the farm workers. Said notice was also published in the Philippine Star on 17 December as Peping did not receive the notice in his Tarlac and Makati offices.

Again, the local police forces in Tarlac are under the beck and call of the Cojuangco-Aquino families, even if local officials or even the DAR pointed out to them that said lands do not belong to TADECO. Besides the police and armed security guards, the military through the 3rd Mechanized Battalion also set up its camp in the same place where the rice lands being cultivated by the leaders of AMBALA.

Land and justice for the farm workers of Hacienda Luisita!

SUGGESTED ACTION:

  1. Call upon competent authorities to intervene, observe and uphold the rights of the farm workers who were just exercising their rights to the land. This includes  their immediate release.
  2. Hold in contempt TADECO and the police officials for ignoring the Notice of Coverage of DAR and for not securing any court order for the arrests and bulldozing
  3. Guarantee the means for the victims to access their land, rebuild their houses, cultivate crops and raise their livestock without any fear of reprisal
  4. Pull-out of all security guards, the 3rd Mechanized Battalion, and para-military troops in the disputed lands.
  5. Ensure that the police and other state security forces will not intervene in this agrarian dispute

Kindly SEND LETTERS of Concern TO:

1. Hon. Benigno Simeon Aquino III
President of the Republic of the Philippines
Malacanang Palace
JP Laurel Street, San Miguel
Manila 1005 Philippines

Fax: +63 2 736 1010
Tel: +63 2 735 6201 / 564 1451 to 80
Email: corres@op.gov.ph / opnet@ops.gov.ph

2. Secretary Virgilio R. Delos Reyes
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR)
Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City
Philippines
Fax: +63 2 920 0380
Tel: +63 2 929 3460; 928 7031, Local 401
e-mail: secretary@dar.gov.ph / gildlr2010@gmail.com

3. Secretary MAR ROXAS
Department of Interior and Local Government
Email:  maia@marroxas.com; mbunico@dilg.gov.ph
Contact No.: Tel. No. 925-0330 / 925-0331;
Fax No. 925-0332

4. Police Director General Alan LA Madrid Purisima
Chief, Philippine National Police
Camp General Rafael Crame
Quezon City, Philippines
Fax: +63 2 724 8763/ +63 2 723 0401
Tel: + 63 2 726 4361/4366/8763
Email: feedback@pnp.gov.ph

——————————————————————————

Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura
(Agricultural Workers Union)
Philippines

Follow UMA Pilipinas on Twitter

Farm workers regain lands in Hacienda Luisita, appeal for support

ICHRP Secretariat
-
0
Farm workers regain lands in Hacienda Luisita, appeal for support

A partial victory was achieved by farm workers under the Alyansa ng Manggagwang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (AMBALA) when they were able to regain part of grabbed lands, set-up a hut, and to stop temporarily the bulldozing of their lands by hired thugs of Tarlac Development Corporation (TADECO) In the afternoon of December 18, 2013 in barangay Balete.

AMBALA which was assisted by Tarlac City Councilor Emmy Ladera and Balete barangay captain Rodel Galang asked TADECO representatives and security guards whether they had a court order which stipulated that no farm workers who have tilled the land since 2005 would be barred from working the land that they are claiming as their own. Councilor Emmy Ladera is from barangay Balete.

All they could say is that the land is theirs and they have titles to these but were dumbfounded when they were shown a notice of coverage (NOC) by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) dated January 2, 2006 and a letter from DAR Tarlac dated December 13, 2013 that there is no record of any appeal, application for retention area or naming any heir beneficiaries by TADEO on said NOC.

The farm workers though remain vigilant by setting up a vigil in the hut that they have set-up as the Tarlac City police and even a whole SWAT team stayed behind supposedly to preserve peace and order. These same police officers have in the recent past been consistent in assisting security guards in intimidating the farm workers and even their advocates.

TADECO also would not let this partial victory last as it has the support of no-less than President Aquino, whose family owns said company. It already got the support also of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) which publicly stated that TADECO’s claims are legitimate as the contested lands are not part of what the Supreme Court decided and never brought up the Notice of Coverage which it issued itself in 2006.

Thus it is only through the militant, united and collective actions including maintaining and expanding their bungkalan (tilling of the soil) and through getting the support of the public would the farm workers succeed. It was through this that they were able to win their case in the Supreme Court, and it is only again through this way that they would win the battle against TADECO.

Kindly provide letters of support to them and CC or write statement of concerns to the following government email addresses which include the Office of the President: op@president.gov.ph
Department of Agrarian Reform dar.gov.ph@gmail.com, dar.osec.secretariat@gmail.com
and use this webpage to email the House Committee on Agrarian Reform:
http://www.congress.gov.ph/contact/popform.php?re=sendemail&to=committee&id=0502

——————————————————————————

Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura

(Agricultural Workers Union)
Philippines

Follow UMA Pilipinas on Twitter

Philippine protests mark International Human Rights Day 2013

ICHRP Secretariat
-
0
Philippine protests mark International Human Rights Day 2013

Protests led by people’s organizations in various provinces and key cities in the Philippines marked the commemoration of the 65th International Human Rights Day.  The protests focused on BS Aquino’s accountability in the continuing human rights violations and impunity, poverty and corruption, and puppetry to US government’s dictates.

In Bicol, a total of 110 ‘mass action centers’ were set up from the Quezon-Bicol boundary, in Sta. Elena, Camarines Norte, in Del Gallego, Camarines Sur, in Bulan and Matnog, Sorsogon. There were also protest actions held in the provinces of Masbate, Burias and Ticao islands. There were marches and rallies in city centers in the whole region such as in Daet and in the cities of Naga, Ligao, Legazpi, Sorsogon, and Masbate, which called for Aquino’s resignation.

In Davao City, some 5,000 members of multi-sectoral organizations attended the protest march which called for the ouster of the US-Aquino regime. The human rights day protest was attended by mostly victims of BS Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan in Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, and Agusan del Sur.

Also in Mindanao, B’laan tribe members, environmental defenders, and rights activists held a protest action in front of the office of the  Glencore-Xstrata-SMI Office in General Santos City, the mining company responsible for the massacre of the B’laan leader Juvy Capion and her two sons, and Juvy’s brother in-law, Kitari Capion. The B’laan held rituals of war and justice during the program.

Bayan and Karapatan Negros led the protest action in Bacolod City to decry the increasing attacks against political activists through trumped up charges filed against them. They also called for the release of all political prisoners.

Members of Karapatan and Bayan in Southern Tagalog region held a caravan from Batangas to Laguna and proceeded to Quezon City. The contingent stormed the gates of the Aquino residence in Times Street, Quezon City early morning of Dec. 10. They held BS Aquino responsible for the continuing state violence in the region, specifically the abduction and disappearance of Ben Villeno, a trade union leader be surfaced. Later, they converged with the rest of the protesters at Blumentritt St. in Manila to join the protest march to Mendiola.

In the National Capital Region, a people’s march going to the Malacaῆang gates was led by Karapatan and Bayan. An effigy dubbed “P-Noy the Destroyer” depicted BS Aquino as the destroyer of the people’s lives, rights, and livelihood. During the program in Mendiola, the effigy was burned to ashes, to show the people’s outrage over the US-Aquino regime’s its criminal negligence, continuing rights violations, corruption, and impunity.

There were also protest marches held in Roxas City in Capiz province led by Bayan-Capiz and Bayan Muna-Capiz. The organizations demanded justice and accountability for the Aquino government’s criminal neglect of typhoon victims.

In Baguio, the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance together with other progressive organizations marched along Session Road in Bagiuo City. Protesters, including martial law victims, held a streamer saying, “Hold the Aquino government accountable for human rights violations!”

Karapatan and Bayan chapters in Central Luzon, Northern and Western Mindanao, and Cebu also conducted forums and cultural programs.

For more photos of the 2013 Human Rights Day commemoration, please check:
http://arkibongbayan.org/2013/2013-12Dec10-IHRday2013/ihr2013-2.htm

————————————————————————-

KARAPATAN National Office
2/F Erythrina Building
#1 Maaralin cor. Matatag Streets
Central District, 1100 Quezon City
Philippines
Email: karapatan@karapatan.org
Telefax: +632.4354146
Web Site: http://www.karapatan.org

ICHRP stands up for the human rights of Filipino migrant workers

ICHRP Secretariat
-
0
ICHRP stands up for the human rights of Filipino migrant workers

Over 10 million Filipino men and women are working overseas on short term contracts because of the abject failure of successive Philippines governments to meet basic economic needs since Marcos in the late 1960s. This in itself is a massive breach of human rights set out in the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights which came into force in 1976.

In December 2000, the UN General Assembly designated December 18 as International Migrants Day. A decade earlier, on December 18, 1990, the UN adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. Almost 25 years later, migrants continue to struggle for their human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Although a signatory to the Convention, the Philippine government has never strayed from its reliance on the policy of labor export to generate billions in remittances for the nation and to address the perpetual problem of joblessness. In fact, the number of Filipinos who leave the country has steadily grown since the Convention was signed by the Philippines. Choosing this path instead of people’s sustainable development removes an individual’s right to determine their future by removing the choice to stay in the Philippines and earn a decent living.

Although the current BS Aquino government has claimed that it is making domestic job creation a priority so that migrants can return, the policies the administration chooses to implement make that an elusive goal. Its acceptance of the Bali WTO package will continue to undermine local agriculture, food sovereignty, and industry which are key for jobs and livelihood. It is these very policies that have been implemented in the Philippines for decades that have trapped the Philippines in a chronic economic crisis, and in a cycle of deficit and mounting debt. It has created the kind of impoverishment that forces individuals to migrate out of necessity and desperation despite the heavy financial, physical and emotional cost to themselves and their families.

At the same time, the Philippine government has done little to protect the rights of migrants who face slave-like work conditions, sexual abuse, and human trafficking among other abuses. Doing so would undermine the image they are trying to promote of a cheap, subservient workforce available to fuel worldwide industries, work in the fields, run ships, and fill service jobs. It would put at risk the mirage of a stable and growing investor-friendly market which, in reality, is being propped up by the billions remitted yearly by Filipino migrants.

It is within this context that the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines stands with migrants who are challenging the anti-people model of “migration for development” and “managing migration”. This false model was called into question most recently at the Fourth International Assembly of Migrants and Refugees (IAMR4). Through this model of “migration for development”, governments are happily passing the responsibility and burden of financing development onto migrants’ shoulders. They are abdicating their responsibility to create people-centered development in their respective countries, which is impossible to achieve within the neoliberal framework.

As has been the case with the human rights crisis in the Philippines, the government is unwilling to address the landlessness and joblessness that is at the root of the crisis and promotes shallow resolutions which at the end ultimately benefit the elite and maintain the status quo. We are acutely aware that the vast majority of human rights violations in the Philippines have been committed against individuals and communities who are doing what the Philippine government has refused to do in addressing landless and joblessness.

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines stands hand in hand with migrants from the Philippines for the right to people-centered development. We stand and fight with migrants struggling for a future where there exists opportunities for a just and humane way to sustain their basic needs and to flourish. We stand for the right to organize against the economic and political forces that are behind forced migration and the human rights crisis in the Philippines.

References:
Canon Barry Naylor
Chairperson, Global Council
International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP)
Office: +44 (0) 116 261 5371
Mobile: +44 (0) 775 785 3621

Peter Murphy
General Secretary, Global Council
International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP)
Mobile: +61 418312301

Katrina Abarcar
Member, Global Council
International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP)
Email: info@katarungan-dc.org

BS Aquino, DAR should be held accountable for continued agrarian unrest in Hacienda Luisita

ICHRP Secretariat
-
0
BS Aquino, DAR should be held accountable for continued agrarian unrest in Hacienda Luisita

Cojuangcos wreak renewed land grab, terror with impunity

“Noong Oktubre, nagdeklara ang DAR na ‘tapos na ang pagdurusa’ ng mga magbubukid sa Hacienda Luisita dahil namigay na sila ng kopya ng mga CLOA. Pero ano’ng nangyayari ngayon? Pinabuldoser ng mga Cojuangco ang mga palay, kinasuhan at pinapalayas ang daan-daang magsasaka. Ito ba ang pinagmamalaki nilang reporma sa lupa?” [Back in October, the Department of Agrarian Reform declared that the sufferings of the peasants of the Hacienda Luisita are over, since they have already distributed copies of the Certificates of Land Ownership Award. But what is happening right now? The Cojuancos have ordered the bulldozing of our rice fields, hundreds of peasants are mercilessly evicted from their lands. Is this the land reform program they are so proud of?”], said Christopher Garcia, spokesperson of Hacienda Luisita farm workers alliance AMBALA.

The CLOA certificate copies only serve as amortization notices, which run counter to farmers’ demands for free land distribution in Hacienda Luisita.

Since 12 December, hirelings of the Cojuangco-owned Tarlac Development Corporation (TADECO) have ruthlessly cleared more than 30 hectares of ricelands and other foodcrop plantations by farmers in Barangay (village) Balete. TADECO and DAR both claim that some hundreds of hectares of agricultural lands in Tarlac City villages are not covered by the historic 2012 Supreme Court ruling to distribute Hacienda Luisita to farm worker beneficiaries (FWBs).

“This is a total lie,” said Garcia. The DAR’s own records attest that agricultural lands under TADECO’s name were already up for distribution to land reform beneficiaries through a notice of coverage (NOC) the DAR issued in 2 January 2006. This notice is based on the resolution of the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) under former Pres. Arroyo to revoke the Stock Distribution Option land reform scheme and finally distribute Hacienda Luisita to farmworkers. This same PARC resolution was halted through a temporary restraining order filed by the Cojuangcos before the Supreme Court. This eventually led to the historic SC ruling in 2011 and 2012, in favor of farmworkers.

TADECO’s aggressive claims on vast agricultural lands coincided with the DAR’s land distribution activities in Hacienda Luisita starting last July. While the DAR enforced land allocation to thousands of farmworkers beneficiaries through anomalous lottery raffles in all barangays,  TADECO conspicuously set up outposts and armed security guards around choice agricultural lots in Barangays Balete and Cutcut. Hundreds of farmers were sent eviction letters by TADECO and are now facing unlawful detainer charges before local courts. Meanwhile, more than half of farmworker beneficiaries in Tarlac City are to face grave inconveniences and dislocation due to the distant location of the 0.66 hectare farmlots allocated to them by the DAR.

“During a dialogue in October, DAR officials promised us that they would release a report on TADECO by December. The DAR led by BS Aquino’s alter-ego, Sec. delos Reyes, should halt its charade of so-called research and verification of the agricultural nature of these contested lands because the naked eye can see that aside from sugarcane, these lands are obviously planted to palay, fruit trees and vegetables. The DAR’s promise to send out a new notice of coverage only aims to cover up its criminal collusion with the Cojuangco-Aquino family to subvert and sabotage the SC’s historic ruling on Hacienda Luisita,” said Ranmil Echanis, deputy secretary general of  Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA, Agricultural Workers Union).

“President Aquino is only quick to respond when it comes to interests of big business and the landlord class. He can be so hands-on and personally inspect police operations in places like Serendra or SM North Edsa for the Henry Sy and Ayala types. In Hacienda Luisita, he can only tolerate the heavy deployment of police and military personnel in full battle gear and army tanks to assist his relatives’ renewed land grabbing efforts. Hacienda Luisita farmers are now real beneficiaries, not of land reform but of state terror and ruthless impunity under this landlord president,” said Echanis.

A 40-page fact-finding report released by UMA last November further recommends a stop to all development projects in Hacienda Luisita pending the resolution of continued agrarian disputes between the Cojuangcos and farmers. “Hundreds of farmers are now being driven away from their farmlands to give way to “soon-to rise” projects, but all 10 barangays of Hacienda Luisita could be totally wiped out in favor of malls and parking lots if the Cojuangcos had their way.”

Source Verification:
Christopher Garcia
Spokesperson – AMBALA
CP # 09293200615

1...165166167...256Page 166 of 256