The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) kicks-off a broad campaign calling for the ouster of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte today in a rally at the gate of Malacañang Palace to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the Mendiola Massacre. Various KMP chapters also held protests in various provinces nationwide.
The peasants group said that they marched today to remember the sacrifice of the martyrs of the Mendiola Massacre and that their deaths will not go in vain as long as the struggle for genuine land reform continues.
On January 22, 1987, thirteen protesting farmers were killed in Mendiola under the watch of former president Corazon Aquino, after thousands of members of KMP marched to Mendiola to demand Aquino’s promise of land reform. The victims of Mendiola Manila massacre were Danilo Arjona, Leopoldo Alonzo, Adelfa Aribe, Dionisio Bautista, Roberto Caylao, Vicente Campomanes, Ronilo Dumunico, Dante Evangelio, Angelito Gutierrez, Rodrigo Gampan, Bernabe Laquindanum, Sonny Boy Perez, and Roberto Yumul.
During the rally, KMP slammed the rising political killings and heightening anti-people policies implemented by the Duterte regime. The group decried the 110 cases of peasant killings under Duterte and the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN), constituent assembly (con-ass) and Charter change (Cha-cha).
“On the 31st year of the Mendiola Massacre, farmers declare the ruling Duterte presidency as an enemy of the people and the peasant masses,” said KMP secretary-general Antonio Flores.
He added, “We cannot allow Duterte to have his way and continue the massacre of farmers through political killings and burdensome economic policies. It is high time for social sectors to unite and call for Duterte’s ouster as President.”
“Farmers will be a formidable force in the broad people’s movement against Duterte,” stresses Flores.
Group slams peasant killings, rights abuses
Aside from the killings of Filipino peasants, KMP also cried foul over the series of arrests, detentions and the tens of thousands of human rights violations in the name of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) and Duterte’s ‘Oplan Kapayapaan.’ The group underscores that most of these cases come from martial-law Mindanao.
On January 20, a staunch peasant activist and member of Pederasyon sa Tanang Asosasyon sa mga Mag-Uuma ug Lumad sa Agusan ug Davao (PAMULAD), James Flores, 33, was shot dead by an unidentified assailant. On the same day, elements of the Philippine Army 20th Infantry Battalion conducted a strafing operation in a peasant community in Northern Samar.
Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas said the latest counter-insurgency program Operation Pacific Eagle-Philippines coupled with the AFP’s Oplan Kapayaan “are sure to worsen the human rights situation in the country.”
Ramos said, “With the full implementation of the US-directed anti-terrorism mission Operation Pacific Eagle-Philippines, the AFP will definitely step up its abuses and human rights violations against civilians.”
He added, “When government forces cannot go after the NPA, farmers and rural folks become default targets of military operations.” To intensify their campaign for the ouster of Duterte, Ramos said that the activities today are part of the build-up for bigger and broader mass mobilizations in the coming months. He said, “We call on all sectors, personalities and the broad masses disillusioned by Duterte’s failed promises and provoked by the rising tyranny and unending economic woes to unite.”
“On February 25, we will mobilize once more against the aspiring dictator in Malacañang,” Ramos ended.
Photos by Sarah de Leon, Kathy Yamzon, and Erika Cruz
