"We may not have set foot on the land itself but it
was nevertheless a victory for our cause and the cause
of land to the tiller."
This was the declaration of Jose Rodito Angeles, president of the
Task Force Mapalad
(TFM) national peasant federation after the peaceful resolution of
a tense standoff from 11:00 AM to 3:30 PM last April 8 between more
than 2,000 TFM members and supporters, and the loyal farm workers
and goons of former Hacienda Velez Malaga landowner Roberto Cuenca.
"The Velez Malaga standoff showed the unity,
discipline and courage the farmers are capable of as
we pursue our struggle for equality and justice,"
Angeles said. "We greatly outnumbered them but we
chose to remain peaceful. We were not there to fight
brother farmers we know are only being manipulated by
their feudal master, we were there to assert our
rights and dignity as the human beings John Paul II
recognized when he visited us in 1981," says Angeles.
Prayer circle
TFM farmers had gone to Hacienda Velez Malaga in Barangay Robles,
La Castellana on the day Pope John Paul II was buried to pay tribute
to the pontiff who made a strong call for social justice during his
historic 1981 visit to Negros and celebrate the gains they have made
in their long and continuing struggle to own the land they till.
But what was intended to be a peaceful and prayerful
celebration was disrupted by anger and violence when
the Cuenca loyalists, backed by the former landowner's
private guards and armed goons, stoned and shot at TFM
members who were making their way to the 10-hectare
area early that morning to prepare for the arrival of
fellow farmers and supporters, among them running
priest Fr. Robert Reyes, who was conducting a
celebratory run in Bacolod City.
Several TFM members were injured, including Angeles.
Some members of the local media who were there to
cover the TFM activity were also harassed by the
Cuenca loyalists who passed themselves off as TFM
members. One staff member of RPN 8 was reportedly hurt
after being struck by an espading (cane bolo).
Cuenca's loyalists also barred the four-member crew of
The Probe Team, a well-known TV in-depth news program,
after trying to enter the TFM farmers' plot through
three (3) entry points.
Although La Castellana policemen, led by police chief
Sr. Insp. Placido Composa and Supt. Irwin Leo Agpangan
were present, they did nothing to prevent the violence
or arrest the perpetrators. Composa, in fact, warned
the TFM members that, if they insisted on entering the
10-hectare area - property already theirs - he would
pull out his men.
It took pressure from TFM officials and several hours
of waiting before police officials Supt. Agpangan and
Composa faced Fr. Reyes, who insisted on approaching
the disputed hacienda and conducting a prayer service
at its boundary if the Cuenca loyalists were intent on
denying them access. Instead of offering protection,
Composa again tried to persuade Fr. Reyes and the TFM
members to turn back.
"We will march to the boundary (of the property)," Fr.
Reyes told the police officials. "I will walk in front
of the people. If they (Cuenca loyalists) shoot me
then I will die for my people. Can you prevent me from
doing that?"
It was only then that Agpangan ordered Composa to
order his men to restrain the Cuenca loyalists and
allow the TFM to hold its celebration. But even in the
presence of the policemen, the armed Cuenca loyalists
attempted to charge Reyes and the unarmed TFM members,
cursing the running priest and Xaverian missionary,
Fr. Archie Casey, who were leading the march.
"We are here to pray," Fr. Reyes told Velez-Malaga
cabo Boy Miarin, who tried to prevent even the
celebration from being held. Forming a huge circle,
around a hectare in diameter, Frs. Reyes and case led
the TFM farmers led in the singing of the Our Father
at the very hour the funeral of the Pope was starting.
Fr. Reyes then blessed mango seedlings to be planted
by the TFM farmer beneficiaries on what will be called
the John Paul II and Antonio Y. Fortich Agrarian
Reform Forest.
After the brief ceremony, Fr. Reyes approached the
Cuenca loyalists and wished them peace, shaking their
hands and asking them to applaud the peaceful end of
what had earlier threatened to be a bloody
confrontation.
Quiet victory
Although they failed to enter the 10-hectare occupied
area, Fr. Reyes said it was a "quiet victory" for TFM
because, "despite the clear provocation and threats of
violence, the people saw it was possible to win the
battle without physical force but through spiritual
and moral force."
"It was a symbolic enactment of fact since the farmers
own the land already and actually occupy part of it,"
he added. While sharing Reyes' assessment, Angeles,
however, slammed the Department of Land Reform (DLR)
and the Arroyo government of continuing to refuse to
fulfill its duty to bring about social justice through
agrarian reform despite a Supreme Court (SC) decision
in a case involving another Cuenca property giving the
agency sole jurisdiction over agrarian disputes.
Although the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law says
the same thing as the SC ruling, successive agrarian
reform secretaries allowed regular courts to meddle in
land disputes.
But even with the decision, DLR Secretary Rene Villa,
a close henchman of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
whose law office is also retained by powerful landed
interests, has continued to come up with alibis to
evade implementing land reform.
Angeles also scored the La Castellana police for
refusing to protect the TFM members, on the pretext of
impartiality, "when it was very clear that their
refusal to prevent the violence until they were
pressured into doing so showed their bias for Cuenca.
Besides, the highest court in the land has decided in
our favor."
