Roman Polintan, chairman of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) in Central Luzon, told Punto that Ambala chair Florida Sibayan and Jason Santos, a youth leader from a group called Sakdal, were abducted allegedly by the police under the command of one he identifi ed only as “Col. Pasadas.”
The hacienda farm workers were commemorating the 13th anniversary of the Hacienda Luisita Massacre when rock-throwing started between them and the police. Sibayan and Santos were reportedly abducted during the melee.
The whereabouts of the two remained unknown as of yesterday afternoon, but her companions believe they could have been brought to Camp Makabulos in Tarlac City.
The National Federation of Peasant Women (Amihan) came out with a statement “strongly condemning the abduction of Hacienda Luisita leader Florida Sibayan by the PNP Tarlac headed by Major Razalan while the farmers were breaking the walls built by the RCBC.“
Hacienda farmworkers earlier issued an “eviction notice” to RBBC which bought some 500 hectares of hacienda land from the Cojuangco clan before the Supreme Court came out with a decision that the hacienda lands should be distributed to them under the land reform program.
“The commotion started when the police force threw rocks at the protesters. Protesters threw back stones while the police hit the protesters with truncheons. Sibayan was abducted by a man in civilian clothes,” Amihan’s statement said.
“Luisita farmers occupation of the lands is a move to reclaim what is rightfully theirs. It is an assertion not only of their rights to the land but also to claim justice denied to the farmers for decades,” Amihan chairperson Zen Soriano said.
Luisita farmers and members of different organizations will hold a protest at Camp Macabulos in Tarlac to call for the immediate release of Sibayan.
