MANILA, Philippines ? Fighting what they called displacement from their homes and farms, more than 1,500 farmers, fishermen and Dumagat natives from five villages in Casiguran, Aurora, held a protest caravan on Monday to stop the establishment of an economic zone there.

Riding the ?kuliglig? (farm tractor used in transporting people and produce) and tricycles, the protesters converged at the Casiguran town hall at noon and aired their appeal to local officials to stop the establishment of the Aurora Special Economic Zone Authority (Aseza).

Petition

The protesters, gathered under the Task Force Aseza, submitted a petition asking Mayor Reynaldo Bitong and the town council to stop the plan on its original site in the villages of Esteves, Dibet, Dibacong, Bianoan and Calabgan.

Pio Tresvalles, TFA spokesperson, said aside from the lack of public hearings, the 500-hectare Aseza would rise on private agricultural lands, areas granted through the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program and Proclamation 723.

He said the more than 6,400 people who would be displaced have yet to be offered any relocation.

No consultation

The four parishes in the Vicariate of Dicadi (Dinalungan, Casiguran and Dilasag towns) also submitted a position paper opposing the establishment of the Aseza because of the lack of consultations with residents and the threat to food security in northern Aurora.

?Those areas [in Casiguran] are the rice granaries in Dicadi. It?s the source of food of residents in these parts of Aurora. The lands are irrigated,? said Fr. Joefran Talaban, Casiguran parish priest.

?Basta dumating na lang ang batas (The law just came),? he said, referring to Republic Act 9490, which Congress passed last year to create the Aseza.

Rice lands

Bitong confirmed that no consultations were made.

?Ni ako nga hindi ko alam (Even I did not know about it),? Bitong said in a telephone interview.

He said the proposed site for the Aseza is comprised of rice lands.

Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, one of the proponents of the Aseza, said the plan underwent consultations.

In an interview in December, Angara said relocation would start this month.

Sen. Edgardo Angara did not return the call of the Inquirer when asked for comments while Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo did not answer calls made to her mobile phone.

Senator Angara has been promoting the establishment of the Aseza, believing agricultural and industrial investments there could pluck Aurora out of the league of 20 poorest provinces in the Philippines.

Authority

Bitong said he told the protesters he has no authority to scrap the plan because it was Congress that created the Aseza.

He promised the Task Force Aseza and the vicariate that he would bring these issues to concerned officials.

He said Aseza officials hold office in Metro Manila. No structure has been built on the site, he said.

Bitong said the economic zone would only cover Esteves and Dibet and that more than 300 families would be affected by the plan.