5 peasants killed in 6 days

Assert Socio-Economic Initiatives Network of the Philippines (Ascent) strongly condemns the recent spate of extrajudicial killings of farmers in the provinces of Nueva Ecija and Isabela. Within a span of only six days five farmers have been killed.

On Sept. 3, 2016, armed men opened fire on around 100 farmers who were taking a break from their “bungkalan” in the Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation in Nueva Ecija. The attack injured four of the farmers and seriously injured another. The farmers were all members of Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid na Nagkakaisa, a local peasant organization engaged in asserting their right to land and food, and in disaster risk reduction.

Then last Sept. 7, Ariel Diaz was gunned down by armed men in broad daylight. Diaz was chair of Danggayan Dagiti Mannalon, intermunicipal coordinator of Peasant Alliance Against Foreign Landgrabbing in Isabela and coordinator of Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura, an  organization of agricultural workers. He was the fifth peasant to be killed  in six days under the Duterte administration.

In 1991, 3,100 hectares of the Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation was awarded to over a thousand farmers under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, but the government failed to implement the awarding. The Philippine military was at times instrumental in denying Fort Magsaysay farmers their right to their land.

The government has denied poor peasants in the Philippines their right to land and food for so long. In order to fight hunger and poverty, they have implemented projects geared toward attaining food security and disaster-risk management. Bungkalan is one such example. It is a form of communal farming, wherein members collectively farm a piece of land, the produce of which they divide among themselves based on their actual work contribution.

Poor peasants have also been active in asserting their right to food as well as attaining peace and justice. However, instead of assistance, they are dealt with bullets and death and are targeted for extermination by land-grabbers and large corporations, often in cahoots with government officials and security forces.

Ascent is deeply concerned with this turn of events, given the recent pronouncements of the Duterte administration regarding change to improve the lives of the poor. We urge the government to show its commitment to protecting the right of farmers to food and land by ensuring that no more peasants become victims of extrajudicial killings. In addition, we also call on the government to immediately investigate the attacks on farmers and the killings and bring those responsible to justice.

—RENMIN CRISANTA VIZCONDE,

spokesperson,

Assert Socio-Economic Initiatives Network of the Philippines, ascent.secretariat

@gmail.com