(Initial Data. Sent by KASAMA-TK)
(Initial Data. Sent by KASAMA-TK)
On April 7, 2010, farmer members of KATIPUNAN NG MGA SAMAHANG MAGBUBUKID – TIMOG KATAGALUGAN/KILUSANG MAGBUBUKID NG PILIPINAS or KASAMA-TK/KMP (Federation of Peasant Organizations in Southern Tagalog/Philippine Peasant Movement) set up a protest-campout at the main entrance of the highly disputed Hacienda Yulo owned by the family of Jose Miguel Yulo in Sitio Buntog. It is a peaceful action against the attempts of the Yulo family to convert the more than 7,000 hectares of agricultural land into a high-end subdivision at the expense of the tillers’ thriving coconut plantation.
At around 8:30 AM, after more than a month of peaceful protest action, Dan Calvo, architect of the Yulo’s, escorted by around 50 members of a composite team of SWAT, local police forces and private guards stormed the picket line and tried to disperse the protesters. The farmers showed Dan Calvo the legal documents stating that the said land has a pending case at the Supreme Court but the latter tore it in front of them.
The dispersal team assaulted the more or less 100 protesters and arrested some of them including women and children. Many were injured in the melee. Women and men alike were handcuffed and were brought to the police station. The men were thrown in jail and the women were detained in the police station. The minors were turned over to the Department of Social Work and Development. As of this writing, the men are still in jail and the women are prevented from leaving the police station.
