JUSTICE REMAINS ELUSIVE 34 YEARS AFTER MENDIOLA MASSACRE
Farmers’ justice and land reform are still in vain. These things that we ever wanted to obtain are always on the move and vague to gain.
It’s been three decades and four years since the bloodthirsty and savage massacre of farmers marching towards the window of the Philippine government, the Malacanang Palace, in pursuit of government action on land reform. This takes place in Mendiola, Manila on January 22, 1987, in which justice remains elusive as ever.
Until now, farmers’ justice has been the star of the primetime. All eyes are on the food production sector where is on the hairsbreadth of priorities of the Duterte administration. Long-standing challenges, including the trash Rice Liberalization Law, continue to hamper Filipino farmers’ productivity. This also includes limited access to credit and insurance, inadequate farm mechanization, postharvest facilities, and irrigation. Scant support for research and development (R&D) and others to name.
More so, Filipino farmers are continuously deceived by ridiculous and ill-witted land reforms such as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms. They are tricked to believe that there is hope in reforms. In reality, hope remains futile for them.
The College Editors Guild of the Philippines vehemently condemns the absence of justice and genuine land reform. It has been 34 years since the Black Thursday that reflects the vexation to the Filipino farmers, the backbone of the country. Since the justice was still unmasked, the Philippines deserves to be served with farmers’ justice in this administration, especially that the culture of impunity remains rampant in the country with a peasant death toll of 313 under the Duterte administration.
CEGP calls on all campus publications and Filipinos to amplify our call for justice and fight alongside our farmers for genuine land reform. Stand with the Filipino farmers.
