THREE students from the University of the Philippines-Cebu were arrested in yesterday’s dispersal of a human barricade in Aloguinsan town, midwest Cebu.
They were Januelle Rontos, 21, a political science major; Jade Manson, 20, a BS math major; and 19-year-old Melanie Montaña, 19, a biology student.
Montaña said the students were there for an exposure trip or Basic Masses Integration (BMI) in the area and to support the farmers. Rontos said he was there to do research on the farmers for his thesis.
A bus of sympathizers on the way to the area was also stopped on the highway and the passengers arrested.
Judelyn Lerio, 19, was crying as she narrated to CDN what took place.
“We were told to get down by four policemen. We don’t know why,” said Lerio, who was with her mother and siblings. They came from Cebu City and were on their way home to barangay Bonbon. Lerio’s family is one of the families affected by the fencing.
“The bus passengers were pulled out. Some were injured after being beaten by police baton sticks,” she said.
Lerio said she saw fire trucks and bulldozers in the area.
Her mother was eventually arrested.
The contested property in barangay Bonbon, Aloguinsan, was among parcels of land identified for government agrarian redistribution in the 1970s.
Kim Mendoza of Fardec, which is assisting the farmers, said the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) confirmed that farmer occupants were the cadastral owners since the 1900s.
She said the Gantuangcos could only present a tax declaration but not a land title to prove their ownership.