Implement genuine agrarian reform for farmers, Aquino told

A church-based lay organization has called on President Benigno Aquino III to implement a genuine agrarian reform for farmers in the interest of social justice.

The Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP), a national church organization who work with the rural poor for land, justice, freedom and integrity of creation, said Aquino should make sure farmers get the land they till.

In a statement, the group urged Aquino to “show his support for the social justice component underlying land reform and ensure that land distribution is paramount and not allow alternatives such as the stock distribution option.”

“We particularly call on him to express this principle in relation to Hacienda Luisita; we also call on him to enact a law carrying genuine agrarian reform for the tillers,” the group stated.

The statement was issued during the RMP’s 26th National Assembly held in Davao last August 12 to 16.

RMP pointed out the lack of services, landlessness and displacement as some of the underlying problems that burdened the rural poor.

“Land is still not distributed to the tiller, as there is no genuine agrarian reform and no basic services to the farmers. Land is still monopolized by landlords and corporations, as seen with the creation of Special Economic Zones, open-pit mining, logging, plantations for biofuels and export crops. As such, land is being converted, and the effect is the destruction of our ecology, the displacement of farmers, fisher folk and indigenous peoples, and the worsening of food security,” the statement partly read.

The group also decried the human rights violations against the poor perpetrated by some members of the armed forces.

“We see clearly how the Armed Forces of the Philippines, along with the paramilitary and private armies are being used to protect the interest of the landlords and corporations resulting to an ever increasing number of human rights violations,” the statement said.

It also criticized the armed forces’ counter insurgency program dubbed Oplan Bantay Laya, saying that it targeted those “who defend the legitimate interests of the rural poor.”

“Under Oplan Bantay Laya, civilians become ‘collateral damage’ as they become victims to militarization. This systematic disregard of human rights institutionalized through Oplan Bantay Laya under the guise of “wiping out insurgency” only exacerbates the poverty of the people, creating a culture of fear,” it further said.

The group urged Aquino to abolish the controversial anti-insurgency program, and as Commander in chief “lead the army to protect the people and not the interest of big business.”

Among other things, the group also asked for the resumption of the peace talks in Mindanao; the prosecution of former Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for her accountability on extra judicial killings; cancellation of the VFA agreement; scrapping of Mining Act of 1995; justice for human rights victims and their families; and freedom of all political prisoners, especially the Morong 43.

It was the RMP who begun in the 1970s the community based health program that the Morong 43 were doing when the military arrested them.

The gathering drew some 80 women and men, priests, religious and rural lay missionaries from all over Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Themed “Paigtingin ang gawaing RMP tungo sa pagtugon sa mga hinaing ng mga dukha sa kanayunan”, the national assembly also coincided with the RMP’s 41st anniversary of foundation.