• THERESA MAE DULMAN
Residents and farmers of Hacienda Michaela in Brgy. Talotog, Murcia, Negros Occidental, joined progressive groups in taking to the streets on the 54th anniversary of Martial Law Sept. 21 to protest the reported ongoing land struggle and environmental issues caused by an adjacent poultry facility.
The farmers convened in Bacolod to voice their opposition to the agricultural property and demand the issuance of a cease-and-desist order against the farm.
Lea Ramos, a representative of farmer-beneficiaries and a member of the Hda. Michaela Farmers Farm Workers Association, said the disputed 22-hectare property had received a Notice of Coverage under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program as early as 2008, with identified beneficiaries taking their official oaths.
Ramos said that families are facing severe hardship after walls put up by the company blocked their primary access roads, forcing residents to trek through fields and children struggling to cross two rivers to attend school.
She explained that their crops and water wells have become unusable due to poultry waste and discarded dead chickens, jeopardizing the livelihoods of 35 households, or over 100 residents.
“DAR, palihog lang, untata niyo na da ang Ta-ala kay pangabuhian da namon kalapad ang ginguba da nila,” she said.
Ramos noted that the company constructed its large facilities without securing a land use conversion, and reported that residents experienced harassment Jan. 12 and were told Sept. 16 that a relocation site has been prepared for them.
Meanwhile, around 100 protesters joined the farmers in front of the Bacolod City Government Center to mark the Martial Law anniversary and call out the president on the many issues besetting the country.
Leaders from Bayan Negros and Human Rights Advocates in Negros (HRAN) noted that current socio-economic struggles, including an ongoing sugar industry crisis, high poverty, and widespread land dispute in Negros Occidental, mirror conditions from the regime of his father, Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
“The call during that time, up to now, remains the same. As people of the church, our prayers, organizing, and studying of true history show that this is not just a part of our past, but something the people still experience today — where we must oppose the different forms of human rights violations from the time of Martial Law until now,” HRAN chairperson, Fr. Melvin Fajardo, said. | TMD
