The Sumilao farmers are the indigenous Filipinos (Lumads) who were the early settlers on a piece of ancestral land in Sumilao, Bukidnon. 243.885 hectare-area of this ancestral land served as the Seat of Government of the Higaonons where the traditional paghusay and pamuhat were conducted by the Higaonon tribal council lead by Apo Manuagay Anlicao and Apo Mangganiahon Anlicao. The ancestral land is a flat agricultural terrain situated in the midst of Mt. Sayawan and Mt. Palaopao, and where Mt. Kitanglad can be seen from afar.
Then the Angeles came in 1930s. Forcibly evicting the Higaonons from their ancestral land, they converted the land into a cattle ranch. Later, the land was transferred to the Ilagans. In 1970s, the ancestral land was divided between 2 landowners: 99.885hectares to Salvador Carlos while the 144 hectares was transferred to Norberto Quisumbing. The ancestral land was eventually leased to Del Monte Philippines, Inc. (DMPI) for 10 years. At this time, the Higaonons became farmworkers of the land they once owned. ( Taken from the "Statement in Support of the Sumilao Farmers" of the Ateneo-based Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan.
Up till yesteday, many decades hence, they were still marching. They can not be stopped by two typhoons "Lando" & "Mina" from their march to Manila in protest of the loss of their land. They are hoping to reach Malacanang in 2 weeks if they will not be blown away into the abyss by strong winds.
As reported in the Nov. 25, Daily Inquirer, this particular march started in Barangay San Vicente in Sumilao on Oct. 10 and is expected to end on Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day. Making do with tattered raincoats, one of their supporters, Filipinas Palma of Balaod (Law) Mindanaw lamented: How many storms should they brave in order to attain justice?"
Indeed, how much longer do the Filipinos--workers, peasants, OFWs and everyone-- have to march, battered from all directions by the howling winds of greed, corruption, apathy--before they can come home?
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5 comments:
Well, for starters, they can start electing people who refuse to make asses of all of us once in power.
They can march all they want- Congress won't give a damn. And the rest of humanity will say "awww... that's sad" then they'll go back sipping their starbucks frappuccino.
There's no easy solution.
Perhaps they should land grab the property back? ;)
Jake, I have abandoned my starbucks pleasure after a Jesuit priest, Fr. Caluag reminded me that the cost of my favorite concoction is enough to feed a Filipino family of 6 for a day.
Way I see it, just because some people languish, doesn't mean you have to. Think about it. If the world suddenly dropped their little pleasures, imagine all the tension that will ultimately build up to boiling strife.
Christ came into the world to bring prosperity and social progress- he didn't exhort us to live on dried beans, whithered leaves and to wear itchy sackcloth.
By all means, enjoy your starbucks coffee while contributing to society. You deserve a break after a hard day's work.
Again, as the Jesuits used to say, during seasons of pervasive poverty in our midst, we have to live simply that others may simply live.
Its great for you to have done this research and seems many learnings can be seen.If we at AKP can point this out at the very onset,and see how this can lead us later to making some strong recommendations towards making the Sumilao case study..this is helpful to our Holistic Agrarian reform platform.
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