“The mass arrest and harassment that farmers and advocates faced at Hacienda Tinang in Concepcion, Tarlac today show the uselessness of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP),” said Cathy Estavillo, secretary-general of Amihan.
“Deprived farmers are faced with violent reprisal when they assert their rightful claim to land. This exposes CARP as intrumental to landlords while majority of our farmers remain landless, poor, and hungry. Moreover, we call for the immediate release of the farmers and their supporters who were baselessly arrested as well, hold the police accountable," Estavillo added.
The Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women said that the it was baseless mass arrest of farmers and advocates including Felino Cunanan, Jr., Ophelia Cunanan, and Alvin Dimarucot of MAKISAMA-Tinang and members of peasant, advocates, and youth groups is currently being carried out by PNP in Hacienda Tinang, Concepcion, Tarlac. The arrests follow the harassment of more than a hundred agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) and advocates during a collective cultivation activity in the area earlier today, June 9.
Moreover, a local representative of DAR arrived but left a few minutes later without resolving the tension. More police officers returned to the area, forcing and dragging the farmers and advocates into their vehicle and confiscating phones and other equipment. Armed officers likewise surrounded the group to prevent them from doing any activities or leaving the area. Currently, vehicles are being deployed by the police to bring all participants of the farm production activity to the PNP station.
Farmers and ARBs who have been tilling the land for almost three decades now await their official installation this month as promised by DAR Undersecretary John Laña. In 1988, Hacienda Tinang was placed under voluntary land transfer (VLT) by the Dominican Priests of the Phils. Inc. under Cory Aquino's Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL). The farmer-tenants applied to become beneficiaries and were awarded their Certificate of Land Ownership Awards (CLOAS) in 1995.
Due to decades of non-installation, the farmers decided to collectively cultivate the land in 2016. The following year, they filed a petition for installation and in 2018 and 2019, DAR issued a writ of execution and ordered with finality the distribution and installation of the ARBs. However, the said order remains unrealized.
The land preparation activities are part of the ARBs’ assertion of their right to the land. Each of the 236 ARBs who are all holders of CLOAs will get less than a hectare of land once DAR posts the official list of beneficiaries before June 30.
Currently, the farmers and supporters are being held in PNP station in Concepcion, Tarlac.
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