“They destroyed everything. After felling our banana trees, they even got the fruits. They did the same with our squash. They did not spare our palay seeds, 12 cavans of it, which we were supposed to plant this July 15.”
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – For nearly a decade, Charlito, also called Gerry, and Dina Catalan have been tilling a two-hectare land in Mapalacsiao village inside the Hacienda Luisita. They planted palay, vegetables and banana and sold their crops for a living.
On June 25, at around 10 a.m., 64-year-old Dina was picking some squash leaves she would cook for lunch when personnel from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) provincial office, Edison Diaz, chieftain of Lourdes village and his men and scores of policemen arrived.
“They told me the land we have been tilling has been awarded to Diaz,” Dina said in Filipino in an interview with Bulatlat.com, June 30.
A few minutes later, Diaz, on board a red tractor owned by the DAR, destroyed all the crops of the Catalan couple. DAR employees identified as a Atty. Narciso, Beth Ocampo, Oca Atillo and sheriff Alfredo de Mes did not stop him.
“They destroyed everything,” Dina said. “After felling our banana trees, they even got the fruits. They did the same with our squash. They did not spare our palay seeds, 12 cavans of it, which we were supposed to plant this July 15.” The destroyed seeds weighed around 600 kilos.
Also destroyed were 25 beds of mushrooms, three fields of string beans (sitaw) with trellises, three fields of sweet potato (camote) and their fertilizers and herbicides.
That evening, the Catalan couple had to borrow money from neighbors so they would have something to eat.
“We earn by selling banana and vegetables, enough to put food on the table,” Dina said. “Now, we have nothing. I have to do laundry work so we could eat.”
Gerry, 68 years old, is worried how they would pay their debt. “We borrowed money to buy those palay seeds. Each cavan costs P1,400 ($32.60).” Twelve cavans cost P16,800 ($384.70).
Asked how much has been lost, Charlito said it amounted to P200,000 ($4,579.81). “We earn every day from those crops,” he said.
Both Gerry and Dina were born in Mapalacsiao village. In 2004, when Hacienda Luisita farmworkers staged a strike against union-busting and unfair labor practices, they were among those to heed the call of the Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Asyenda Luisita (Ambala) for a tillage campaign.
“When Ambala said our struggle would be long and we should cultivate the land to sustain us, we cleared a piece of land and started planting,” Dina said. “Why would we leave when we have been there all our lives.”
Collective farm
Earlier that same day, at around 7:00 a.m., the same group went to the local headquarters or “kubol” (hut) of the Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang-Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (Ambala) in Silangan Street, Mapalacsiao village.
The DAR officials demanded that Ambala abandon the area because the lots were already allocated to other farmworker-beneficiaries (FWBs), particularly residents of another barangay, Lourdes, via the DAR’s tambiolo (lottery drum) raffle draws last year.
Ambala members negotiated and asked the officials to honor a previous agreement forged last May 16 between Ambala and local barangay officials in Hacienda Luisita, Diaz included, to settle disputes among residents and FWBs peacefully, particularly taking into consideration the rights of farmers with existing crops and those who have spent years of toil to develop farmlots for food production.
After an hour of discussion, at around 8:00 am, a red big tractor owned by the DAR, manned by Diaz himself, proceeded to destroy Ambala’s crops. More than a dozen fully-armed policemen stood by to serve as security while the group destroyed the crops.
Destroyed were around half a hectare of sweet potato (camote) scheduled for harvest on July 15, two fields of string beans (sitaw) with trellises, three fields of cassava (kamoteng kahoy) and three fields of eggplant (talong) with abundant fruits.
DAR liable
Dina blamed the incident on DAR’s raffle system of land distribution. The Catalan couple and other Ambala members in Balete and Mapalacsiao have been assigned lots in Motrico, Pando and Parang towns while those in Lourdes village, like Diaz, are assigned lots in Mapalacsiao.
Mapalacsiao is four kilometers away from Parang and eight to nine kilometers away from Motrico and Pando. Lourdes village, meanwhile, is three kilometers away from Mapalacsiao.
“The Cojuangco-Aquinos built fences in Lourdes village and so they want the farmer-beneficiaries residing there to transfer to Mapalacsiao,” Dina said.
Dina said the DAR personnel should be held accountable for the destruction of their crops.
“I am angry,” Charlito said. “What could I do? They are powerful. They are from the government.”
This is not the first time that Gerry experienced “harassment” from DAR. On April 3, Gerry and four other farmers were arrested by Tarlac City police and have been charged with violation of the implementation of the Republic Act 6657 or Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law.
In a previous interview with Bulatlat.com, Gerry denied the allegation that he destroyed the markers placed by DAR personnel.
In a statement, Ambala said, “The DAR is only posturing that it wants to install legitimate beneficiaries, but it only seeks to evict farmers engaged in palay and vegetable production to make way for the Cojuangcos’ sugarcane aryendo.”
Under the aryendo or lease system, Cojuangco financier agents offer P7,000 ($160.29) a year lease to cash-strapped farmer-beneficiaries using documents from the DAR such as the Lot Allocation Certificate (LAC) and Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) as a sort of collateral.
Ambala said that through the aryendo system, lots are re-concentrated back to the control of the Cojuangco-Aquino clan to sustain the sugarcane needs of the Central Azucarera de Tarlac sugar mill, even before the actual physical land distribution.
From the start, Ambala has been calling on the DAR to honor their collective farming, which is allowed under the CARP. The DAR refused and insisted on the raffle system of land distribution.
The Catalan couple is not giving up. “We will plant again,” Dina said. “We will not allow them to drive us away.”
“This is our only means of survival,” Gerry said. “We will not stop.” 
