Originally Published on January 22, 2021
It has been 34 years since the infamous Mendiola Massacre took place in Manila, and justice remains elusive. The supposed peaceful mobilization of the peasant farmers to fight for just and comprehensive land reforms turned into violent dispersal that took the lives of 13 farmers.
During Cory Aquino’s term, who came from the landlord class, the agricultural laborers were deceived by her bogus land reform program. In 1988, the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) was implemented to distribute lands to about 8.5 million landless peasants, share tenants and agricultural workers “to liberate them from the clutches of landlordism and poverty,” according to a Bulatlat report.
In an apparent fluke, lands have been turned over back to the landlords, and the farmers’ fate will always be in the hands of the reactionary government.
During the course of the US-Philippines bureaucracy through their reactionary allies, the Philippines as a semi-feudal society remained at exploiting the dire situation of the peasant class. Even at the present political maneuvering of the tyrant Duterte, the landlord-tenant relations persist, and the poverty-stricken peasantry will worsen as their doom began on the passage of the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).
The RTL lifts the tariffs, removes restrictions, and liberalized imported rice, creating dreadful impacts on the lives of consumers, farmers, and rice traders due to the high prices of rice.
Also, according to Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), 305 slained farmers have been documented since Duterte took office in 2016. Despite the strict implementation of lockdown since March 2020, the state forces have never failed to show how repressive and ruthless they are as more than 100 farmers have killed amid the community quarantine.
Behind the miserable state of our farmers right now is the continuous call for genuine agrarian reform and to end state fascism that will also abolish the semi-feudal character of the Philippine society.
Land to the tillers, Justice for the peasant farmers!
TNC of the North 