A group of farmers in the northern Philippine province of Bataan appealed to the government for a stop to the demolition of their homes this week for “humanitarian reasons.”
Several houses in the village of Sumalo were demolished by a property developer after it got the approval of a local court.
The court decision will affect more than 50 prospective beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program of the government.
The demolition of homes and the ejectment of farmers from the land came even after an appeal has been lodged before the Court of Appeals, said the farmers.
Among the houses demolished was that of former village chief Rolando Martinez who was vocal in his opposition to the proposed conversion of the farmlands.
“Seeing [Martinez’s] house reduced to rubble dealt a demoralizing blow to our struggle for agrarian reform,” said community leader Belinda Petinez. “I know my home is next,” she said.
Mayor Antonio Inton of Hermosa town in Bataan said even the local government’s “hands are tied” because of the decision of the courts.
The mayor, however, backed the call of the farmers to defer the demolitions “in light of the challenges presented by the pandemic.”
Geraldine Roman, a member of the Philippine Congress representing the first district of Bataan, said she was “saddened” by the incident because the houses belonged to “legitimate agrarian reform beneficiaries.”
The farmers in Sumalo have been urging the governments Department of Agrarian Reform “to finally end their decades-long struggle for land” which started in the 1970s.
