Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts

Vol. VI, No. 49      Jan. 14 - 20, 2007      Quezon City, Philippines

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PHOTO ESSAY

Samar Farmers Suffer in 2006, Brace for Worst in 2007

It is bad enough that Samar farmers suffered from various forms of human rights violation in 2006. Given the military’s all-out campaign against the perceived enemies of the state, they are bracing for the worst this year.

BY THE LEYTE CENTER FOR DEVELOPMENT, INC.
Reposted by Bulatlat 

Massive evacuations. Two thousand and six was undeniably one of the worst years for peasant communities in Samar located in the Eastern Visayas region, Central Philippines. The year 2006 saw heightened military operations against the New People’s Army (NPA) that sent more than 800 peasant families fleeing from their homes and sources of livelihood in at least five towns in Samar: Bobon, Basey, Las Navas, Motiong and San Jose de Buan.

Military authorities have identified the five Samar towns as among the “hotbeds” of communist insurgency in the region. 

Human rights violations. Interviews with victims by the Leyte Center for Development, Inc. (LCDE), a non-government organization assisting natural and man-made disaster-stricken communities in Eastern Visayas, showed the rising incidence of human rights violations allegedly perpetrated by the military as the reason for the forced evacuations.

In Bobon where the first massive evacuation took place, 502 peasant families left their barrios on February 18, 2006 following a string of human rights abuses which includes the murder of a village chief by alleged soldiers. A fact-finding mission documented 31 cases of human rights violations affecting 61 persons. The violations included killing, abduction, illegal search and seizure, fake surrender, coercion, threats and harassment.

Disrupted lives. Contrary to the military’s claim that the government’s counter-insurgency campaign “Oplan Bantay Laya” intends to bring development in rural areas, this campaign only worsened the poverty situation of farmers in the region.

In Motiong, for instance, landed farmers and their families who refused to return to their villages for fear of their own safety have become tenants. Before the evacuation, they could at least get a daily income of more than P100 ($2.04, based on an exchange rate of P49.015 per US dollar) for tilling their own farms. Now, they only earn P27 ($0.55) a day since as tenants they have to give 75 percent of their harvest as payment for land rent. To augment their income, they would offer their services to other landed farmers during the cropping season such as weeding or helping the latter deliver their produce to the market.

Victims without a voice. Among the most adversely affected by intense military operations in Samar are children below 13 years old. LCDE’s damage, needs, capacities assessment (DNCA) reports show that 1,432 children in Eastern Visayas were affected by military operations last year. The reports also show that the evacuations further deteriorated the health of the child refugees, the majority of whom are malnourished, due to food shortage and poor conditions in the evacuation sites. Moreover, the military operations affected the socio-emotional and psychological functioning of many child refugees, especially those who directly encountered violence.

One DNCA report cited the case of Marlon Parani, a 12-year old child in Las Navas, who suffered emotional disorder and maladjustments such as abnormal fear of military, uneasiness, regression in social interaction, sleep disturbances and others, after soldiers allegedly threatened to kill him.

The records are proof that even the children are not spared by Oplan Bantay Laya. The additional P1 billion ($20.4 million) allocated by the government to the military to bolster this counterinsurgency campaign should have allocated to basic social services like education, health care and economic support, which are usually absent in rural areas.

The Oplan Bantay Laya also disrupted the lives of the Mamanwa, an indigenous mountain tribe inhabiting the forested areas of San Jose de Buan. The Mamanwa originally came from Agusan in Mindanao Island who migrated to Samar and other parts of Eastern Visayas to start anew after the military’s and private corporations’ invasion of their ancestral domains in the early 1980s—only to be driven from their sources of livelihood again by the intensified military operations.

Bracing for the worse. During his recent visit in the region, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. announced to the media that the military would launch relentless campaigns against the NPA starting January this year and end the country’s insurgency by 2010 as directed by President Macapagal-Arroyo. He also said that “while they would further intensify military operations, human rights of the people would be their utmost concern.”   

Nevertheless, as shown by numerous reports from the media, cause-oriented groups and non-government organizations, respect for human rights is among the government’s least concerns. The year 2007 would undoubtedly be another grim year for the peasant communities not only in Eastern Visayas but in the whole country as well. Bulatlat

 

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© 2006 Bulatlat  Alipato Media Center

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