PORAC, Pampanga – A fact-finding team of farmers’ groups and non-government organizations revealed here yesterday its findings that some 350 farmers and about 1,000 families have been displaced from lands they inherited from their forefathers who had tilled their farms in Hacienda Dolores here way back in 1835.
Joseph Canlas, chairman of the Alyansang Magbubukid ng Gitnang Luson (AMGL), said the fact-finding team spent two days at Hacienda Dolores to investigate nagging reports of landgrabbing in the area by a new set of claimants.
He said the area involved some 754 hectares of the 2,099-hectare Hacienda Dolores near an interchange of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx). “That land was first cultivated by the forefathers of the current farmers way back in 1835, when there were only 20 households there,” he said.
Canlas noted that private corporations claiming ownership of various parts of Hacienda Dolores “have violated the socio-economic rights of the farmers, especially when they were barred from attending to their farms way back in 2011.”
He named two of the private firms as LHI and FL Corp. which the report of the fact-finding team accused of destroying the farmers’ crops, bulldozing their farms and whose guards “snatched away their livestock and poultry.”
“They also filed trumpedup charges against the farmers resulting to illegal arrests. These corporations are essentially killing the people as their sources of livelihood are being cut off,” Canlas said. He said the fact-finding team documented “26 cases of destruction and divestment of properties victimizing 21 farmers, five peasant women, one case of illegal mass arrest victimizing 12 farmers on November 4, 2011 and one case of illegal arrest and detention on July 28 this year, two separate cases of harassment, threat and intimidation and a case of coercion of a farmer for him to sign a waiver of voluntary surrender of land, and recruitment of local and indigenous Ayta to serve as goons and security guards.”
Canlas sought a probe on how the farmers’ lands were titled to private corporations, as he noted that since the original farmers settled in Hacienda Dolores in 1835, there have been several claimants to the lands.
He cited historical records indicating that the claimants included Gregorio Macapinlac during the late 19th century and the Champourshin family from 1916 to 1975. During the Marcos dictatorship, part of Hacienda Dolores was claimed by the Puyat family and in 1999 by the Dayrit family. In 2005, LHI began claiming lands and attempted to displace farmers while FL Corp. started claiming lands in 2007.
Canlas noted that the LHI is claiming 298 hectares covering Purok 3 to 8 of Hacienda Dolores, while FL Corp. is claiming another 456 hectares covering lowlands and even a portion of a mountain. He also cited news items saying that Ayala Land plans to convert 1,000 hectares of Hacienda Dolores into a project similar to the Nuvali project in Sta. Rosa City in Laguna.
Apart from the AMGL, the fact-finding team was also composed of representatives from the Aniban ng Nagkakaisang Mamamayan sa Hacienda Dolores (ANMHD), Karapatan-Central Luzon, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and Anakpawis Party-list.
They were also joined by representatives from the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP), Social-Pastoral Apostolate of Holy Family Academy (Angeles city) and St. Scholastica’s Academy – Manila, Central Luzon Ayta Association, Aguman Dareng Maglalautang Capampangan (AMC), Ambala – Hacienda Luisita, Karapatan – National, Sinagbayan, Anakbayan, Bayan Muna – Pampanga, PDIARS and KM 64, Canlas said.
