THE TASK Force Mapalad national peasant federation strongly condemns
the March 6 killing of a Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP)
beneficiary and wounding of two others by farm workers loyal to Kitchie
Benedicto Paulino, daughter of the late Marcos crony Roberto Benedicto
and former owner of the 564-hectare Hacienda Esperanza in La Carlota
City in Negros Occidental.
The latest carnage resulted not just from a simple melee, as Ms Benedicto
had claimed in news reports, but part of a massive scheme among the
Benedictos to resist CARP implementation in their former lands. Projecting
the incident in the public eye as mere brawl between rival farmer
groups fails to conceal the Benedictos' desperation to defy the law
and to sow terror among CARP beneficiaries just to keep them at bay.
Such act is common among influential Negros landowners, mixing both
armed force and legal maneuvers just to retain control over CARP lands.
The Hacienda Esperanza incident is latest among growing number of
violent acts against CARP beneficiaries in Negros Occidental, thanks
to former landowners adamant to keep these lands as source of their
profit and prestige. In December last year, former landowner Mario
Villanueva's loyal farm workers shot at and hacked two CARP beneficiaries
as they try to cultivate their lands, similar to what happened to
the Hacienda Esperanza farmers. In November 2002, goons and farm workers
loyal to another Marcos crony Roberto Cuenca haplessly mauled a TV
network cameraman in the line of duty, taking footages of CARP beneficiaries
legally claiming their share to Hacienda Velez Malaga in La Castellana,
Negros Occidental. Around the same time, the Benedictos' encargado
mayor Ed Alonzo and his men mauled a CARP beneficiary from another
former Benedicto landholding, and threatened to kill him should he
report the incident to authorities or media. We strongly urge President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) secretary
Roberto Pagdanganan to directly order the arrest and punishment of
Benedicto and other landowners obstructing the agrarian reform law.
Their continued waging of violence against beneficiaries make themselves
the real terrorists of this country.
We also strongly urge the President and Secretary Pagdanganan to
protect CARP beneficiaries from further harm by deploying significant
number of military personnel to contentious landholdings, such as
those formerly owned by the Benedictos, Cuenca, Villanueva, Lopezes,
and other resistant landowners in Negros Occidental.
We bereave for another fallen companion in the hands of these terrorists
still lurking in our communities.
This however would not deter us from waging even our last breath
to fight for our rights. Every bullet or lash that resistant landowners
pierce on our flesh only strengthens our resolve to collectively toil
for a just and humane life in our lands for our families.
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