KARAPATAN condemned the arrest of five peasants and fisherfolk who resisted the violent demolition of more than 100 houses in their community in Barangay Taltal in Masinloc, Zambales, June 19. The demolition crew, composed of 50 police elements of Masinloc Municipal Police Station and led by a local sheriff, was sent at the behest of investor Perpetuo Yap and his aide Jennifer Escala. Yap has been unjustly claiming the peasants’ land.
Arrested were Neil Edward Geroca, Claire Elfalan, Elmer Nollas, Elmer Madarang and Alex Mose, all residents in the said community. An inquest was held yesterday afternoon at the Office of the Public Prosecutor in Iba, Zambales, where they were charged with direct assault, physical injury, obstruction of justice, disobedience & resistance. An amount of P50,000.00 bail was set for each person.
The demolition crew immediately destroyed the houses after 13 leaders of the Samahang Magsasaka at Mangingisda sa Barangay Taltal (SAMMBAT) rejected a bribe of P31,000 each in exchange for collaborating in the demolition. The peasant leaders stressed that they are asserting their right to the land and to sustainable livelihood, and are not asking for doleouts.
The demolitions took place in a disputed 32-hectare piece of land in Sitio Togue, Barangay Taltal that is part of a 55-hectare land that has been placed under the government’s land reform program. Only 23 hectares have been distributed, however, with the remaining 32 hectares curiously declared as “unfit for agriculture” by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) even if farmers have been cultivating the land since the Japanese occupation.
At the same time, the farmers, through their organization SAMMBAT have filed a petition to revoke the DAR decision that the lands are unfit for agriculture, alongside holding protests at the DAR Central Office. As a result of this protest, the DAR Central Office issued a Certificate of Pendency, and Undersecretary Napoleon Galit signaled a favorable decision for SAMMBAT on their petition for revocation.
However, on May 19, despite DAR certifications and the ongoing petition, the MTC of Masinloc-Palauig ruled against SAMMBAT and issued a 15-day notice to vacate through Sheriff Roy Mendonez. In response, SAMMBAT brought their appeal to the governor’s office and sustained their protest until the notice’s expiration on June 19.
The first violent demolition occurred in 2024 when Yap, through his agent Escala, destroyed some 500 pineapple plants.
Atty. Maria Sol Taule, Karapatan deputy secretary general, deplored the apparent conspiracy between the DAR on one hand and Yap and Escala on the other, to misdeclare the disputed land as “rocky” to facilitate its seizure from the peasants for land use conversion. The land has long been planted with pineapples.
“We are closely monitoring the situation in Taltal,” said Taule. “We stand with the farmers and fisherfolk of Taltal in their struggle for their rights to the land and for genuine agrarian reform,” she concluded.