By JACINTO LINGATONG
Bulatlat.com
SAN PABLO, Laguna —The Katipunan ng mga Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan (KASAMA-TK) reported the arrest and continued harassment of 29 Iraya Mangyan farmers and their families in Hacienda Almeda, Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro.
The organization said this latest incident is part of a systematic campaign of land grabbing and repression targeting the indigenous community.
On Oct. 18, 2024, seven private goons and four members of the Police Regional Mobile Group detained 17 elderly residents and 12 minors without warrants.
Families have lost contact with the arrested farmers and minors, suspecting that their mobile phones were confiscated upon arrest.
“The Iraya Mangyan are being subjected to coordinated attacks to force them off their ancestral lands,” said Jeverlyn Seguin, KASAMA-TK spokesperson. “The Almeda family, backed by local authorities and state forces, is using intimidation and violence to hold on to land that rightfully belongs to the farmers and indigenous people.”
History of land grabbing and repression
The dispute over Hacienda Almeda dates back to the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in 1988. The 1,546-hectare property, spanning the municipalities of Mamburao and Abra de Ilog, was initially placed under agrarian reform coverage due to its agricultural use.
However, the Almeda family claimed the land was pasture land for cattle and sought exemption from agrarian reform.
Inspections by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) confirmed that the land was being used for farming, with crops such as rice, bananas, and mung beans cultivated onsite.
In 1992, the DAR ordered the inclusion of the land under CARP and awarded Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) to 58 farmer-beneficiaries, including Iraya Mangyan families.
Despite multiple rulings favoring the farmers, the Almeda family has refused to relinquish the land, filing repeated legal appeals and delaying the redistribution.
“CARP’s failure to implement genuine land reform has allowed landlords like the Almedas to continue exploiting loopholes to maintain control,” Seguin said.
Escalating repression against Mangyans
This recent wave of arrests is only the latest in a series of human rights violations against the Iraya Mangyan in Mindoro.
In 2017, over 100 police officers and private guards demolished 20 makeshift houses in Barangay 9, Payompon, Mamburao, forcibly evicting the community after they had cultivated five hectares of farmland.
KASAMA-TK reported that the Iraya Mangyan continue to endure harassment and intimidation. Private guards have imposed a food blockade on the community, confiscating livestock and crops. Residents, including women and children, have faced daily gunfire and constant threats of violence.
Seguin noted that the timing of the arrests—just days after Tribal Sunday and ahead of nationally-coordinated peasant protests on October 21—appears to be a deliberate attempt to suppress indigenous and peasant resistance.
Continued fight for land
“We demand the immediate release of the detained farmers, an end to the harassment, and the recognition of the Iraya Mangyan’s ancestral domain,” Seguin said. She also criticized the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and local authorities for failing to act on the community’s rightful land claims.
KASAMA-TK and the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) are urging various sectors to stand in solidarity with the Iraya Mangyan. “This struggle goes beyond Mindoro—it’s a national issue of land reform and justice,” said Danilo Ramos, KMP Chairperson.
“We call on all sectors to unite in defending the Iraya Mangyan’s rights and pushing back against land grabbing. Justice and genuine land reform must prevail,” Seguin added.
KASAMA-TK vowed to continue supporting the Iraya Mangyan and other marginalized communities in their fight for land and dignity. (JJE, RVO)
