The Philippine National Police (PNP) maintained on Monday, June 13, that the arrest of 91 farmers and their supporters in Concepcion, Tarlac was “lawful” as they allegedly destroyed crops and became unruly when they conducted their protest.
Police Lt. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr., PNP officer-in-charge, said the Tarlac police will continue to take custody of the 83 farmers, peasant advocates, campus journalists, members of cause-oriented groups as well as eight foreigners who staged a “bungkalan” protest or land cultivation at Hacienda Tinang to fight for their right in a grueling land dispute.
“We maintain regularity in the conduct of police operations that resulted to the arrest of 91 individuals,” Danao said in a press briefing at Camp Crame in Quezon City.
The arrested individuals are facing multiple charges for malicious mischief, direct assault, disobedience and resistance to persons in authority, obstruction of justice, and illegal assembly, according to Danao.
He said resident farmers in Brgy. Tinang complained that members of urban poor group Kadamay and progressive group Anakpawis allegedly destroyed crops in a portion of Hacienda Tinang “in an attempt to forcefully take over the disputed property.”
“Responding police units only dutifully performed intervention operations when the situation went out of hand and the members of the militant groups became unruly,” he said.
“Do you allow this to happen to anybody of you? Na sisirain lang ng kahit sinong militanteng grupo ‘yong mga kagamitan niyo at lalong lalo na ang ikasisira ng buhay niyo? Papayag ba tayo niyan, and then in the guise of human rights? (Will you allow militant groups to just destroy your source of livelihood? Will we allow that in the guise of human rights?),” Danao asked.
He also questioned the presence of eight foreigners and campus journalists during the protest.
“What are you doing here? And why are you meddling in the internal affairs of this country? Anong ginagawa niyo dyan? Baka kayo ang nag-aagitate ng mga grupong ito (What are you doing there? Maybe you are the ones agitating these groups),” he accused the foreigners and the campus journalists.
Human rights groups raised alarm over the “violent” arrest of the farmers and their supporters at Hacienda Tinang last Thusday. The farmers were protesting that the land they were cultivating was awarded to them by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in 1995.
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said a dialogue between the farmers and the DAR last June 7 ended with a promise from the government agency that the land beneficiaries will finally be awarded their piece of land after 27 years. This has yet to be fulfilled by the DAR as the processing of the papers were supposedly delayed which angered the farmers, the KMP said.
Kadamay said it is not a crime to support the farmers’ call for a genuine land reform as it blasted the PNP for supposedly protecting the interests of powerful individuals who exert influence over the land that were actually given to the beneficiaries.