KIM’S DREAM ORLAND RAVANERA
MANIFESTO
PRAYER RALLY & PRESSCON OF ILOCANO FARMER-SETTLERS & DECENDANTS IN AMAI MANABILANG
WE, the farmer-settler-descendants of some 1,000 Ilocano settlers from La Union, Pangasinan & Tarlac known as LAPANTAR have come together today with a firm collective intent to passionately express emphatically and categorically the on-going violations of our human rights, unbearable social injustice and glaringly criminal offenses inflicted upon us. Since 2023, hundreds of hectares of our farmlands planted with various vegetables and sugar cane are being continuously tractor(ed) daily- by two powerful corporations namely, Kennemer Food, Inc. and by Asia Pacific Precision Agricultural Corporation. What is so puzzling is all these offenses which apparently are in gross violations of our constitutional rights are with the consent of the local government and the Southern Philippines Development Authority (SPDA), horribly being done in the presence of the well-armed PNP and AFP personnel. Why such horrible travesty of our constitutional rights? Is it because of the order of the SPDA & the LGU to forcibly evict us through coercive and violent means? It is the contention of SPDA that some 26,000 hectares (10,000 in Amai Manabilang and 16,000 in Wao, Lanao del Sur) are owned by SPDA for Agro-Industrial Development, which apparently is in gross violation of our prior rights. If indeed such be the case, why is it that SPDA only claiming our farmlands? It seems an unbelievable phenomenon but the strong will of the honorable Mayor of the municipality of Wao, Lanao del Sur to recognize the prior right of the farmers in Wao through the issuance of Individual Property Right (IPR) to some 500 farmer-occupants has barred the entry of two powerful corporations. The amazing decision of Mayor Nono Balicao, Jr. which essentially followed the rule of law can be considered as a countervailing force against the pronouncement of the SPDA that declared owning some 26,000 hectares for its Agro-Industrial Development Program. Such declaration is apparently in gross violation of the priority rights of the settlers and their descendants who have been occupying the 16,000 hectares in Wao and the 10,000 hectares in Amai Manabilang since the 1950s when they came as settlers during the term of the Man of the Masses, President Ramon Magsaysay.
It can be aptly claimed now that such amazing act of the honorable mayor of following the rule of law has astonishingly saved the people of Wao from what is happening to us now in Sumogot, Amai Manabilang, Lanao del Sur whose mayor is in full support of the entry of corporations. Social injustice, massive repression, violence, and the non-stop coercive eviction of the farmers through the non-stop tractoring of our planted crops by the powerful corporations, backed-up by the PNP, AFP and LGU, are the painful social realities besetting us. No way can these painful realities happen if only the honorable Mayor of Amai Manabilang has recognized the prior rights of the Ilocano settlers.
What is so amazing is that when Mayor Nono Balicao, Jr. followed the rule of law by respecting the prior right of the Wao farmers, he has trailblazed justice, peace, and sustainability. Indeed, as constitutionally declared, “No person shall be deprived of life liberty and property without due process of law.” Through the issuance of Individual Property Right (IPR), no Wao farmer has been forcibly evicted unlike what is happening now in Amai Manabilang. Indeed, Wao Mayor has exemplified that in this country, no one is above the law; all must bow down to the majesty of the law because we follow the rule of law and not of power, of money and of the guns. To those serving the interest of powerful and wealthy foreign corporations, they may have forgotten the constitutional declaration that, “In a Republican and Democratic State, sovereignty resides with the people and all governmental powers emanate from them.” Why are these officials serving the interest of foreign corporations? Too, these government officials must be reminded of the Constitutional declaration that, “A public office is a public trust and all government officials and employees must exercise their functions to the highest degree of commitment, dedication and service to the Filipino people.” As we are now crying in pain as we have become victims of horrible social injustices, let us be reminded of the constitutional declaration that, “The State shall promote social justice in all phases of national development.” Livelihood and food are basic human rights of the farmers. What is happening now in Amai Manabilang is apparently a gross violation of our human rights. KAMI PO AY TAO, HINDI BASURA! Even our freedom of expression is being grossly violated. A meeting took place on April 26,2023 at the Covered Court of Barangay Sumogot to relay to the farmers the plan of Kennemer and SPDA. During the Open Forum, Noel Subido stood to give his reactions saying that the 16,000 as rental per hectare is not enough for a family to survive and presented their right over their land, he was pushed, kicked, and mauled by the bodyguards of the mayor in the presence of the AFP and PNP who have done nothing to stop the mauling.
As exemplified by the Amai Manabilang experience, the entry of corporations through corporate globalization is based on the enclosures of the commons (land), enclosures which imply exclusions and are based on violence. Instead of a culture of abundance, profit driven-globalization creates culture of exclusion, dispossession, and scarcity. In fact, globalization’s transformation of all beings and resources into commodities robs diverse species and people of their rightful share of ecological, cultural, economic, and political space. The “ownership” of the rich is based on the “dispossession” of the poor – it is the common, public resources of the poor which are privatized, and the poor who are disowned economically, politically, and culturally.
We, the Ilocano farmers in Amai Manabilang are hard-working, compassionate and nature-loving. We have amazingly exemplified our oneness and inter-connectivity with the blessed land. In the last 60 years, we have wonderfully developed our agricultural lands sustainably following nature’s and sustenance economy, treating nature as like a “home” where our basic needs and the communities are provided for. No way must we be evicted by corporations to transform our choicest of land into massive plantations to supply the consumerist needs of the people in advanced countries while we cannot even produce basic staples for our hungry Filipino people. These corporations are not allowed to operate in other countries (i.e. Puerto Rico & Costa Rica) as their heavy usage of toxic chemicals is eliminating and polluting the watersheds that is causing cancer and deformities of new born babies – thus, they are entering our country. What is now essential is to promote SUSTAINABLE AGRO-FORESTRY for food security and to regain back our country’s ecological integrity. This is our irrevocable stand: OUR LAND IS FOR THE FILIPINOS, NOT FOR FOREIGN CORPORATIONS AS THE CULPRIT CAUSING GROSS INEQUITIES AND SACRIFICING MOTHER EARTH AND THE PEOPLE TO THE ALTAR OF GREED AND PROFIT THROUGH CORPORATE GLOBALIZATION.
