In The Know: The demands of Casiguran peasants

MANILA OR BUST More than 100 farmers, fishermen and people from indigenous tribes on Monday set out on the second day of a 350-km march from Casiguran, Aurora, to Manila to protest the development of 12,000 hectares of agricultural and ancestral land in the town into an industrial zone. VJ VILLAFRANCA/CONTRIBUTOR

In a statement, peasants of Casiguran in Aurora on an 18-day march are demanding that:

• Malacañang undertake an independent review or evaluation of the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (Apeco) for a possible repeal or modification of the law creating it.

• The Senate provide a zero budget allocation for the project.

• The Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources provide settlement areas for small fisher families already displaced by the project as of this month.

• The Department of Agrarian Reform distribute 105 hectares of prime agricultural land to 56 landless farmers of Sitio Reserva, Barangay Esteves, to end a 50-year struggle of farmers for titles in a government reservation that they had transformed into productive rice fields.

• The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples execute guidelines and measures to ensure the credibility and integrity in securing free and informed consent of the affected people in ancestral lands.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources ensure the respect of stewardship contracts of 90 households under the integrated forestry programs in 288 ha of Apeco-covered areas.