Nearly a decade since they took to the streets to fight for their right to own the land they tilled, Sumilao farmers are set to march again from Mindanao to the capital this time to support the vice presidential candidacy of Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo, who helped them win in their 20-year land rights struggle.
At least a dozen Higaonon farmers from Sumilao, Bukidnon province, will join tomorrow the kickoff of the 23-day march-caravan dubbed “Sumilao Farmers’ Express: Mga Nasa Laylayan ng Lipunan, Iaangat si Leni Para sa Bayan (People on the margins of society, lift Leni for the country),” a play on Robredo’s campaign slogan—“Iangat ang mga nasa laylayan (Lift those on the margins of society).”
The caravan, which will cover 3,700 kilometers, aims to introduce the vice presidential candidate to the common folk through testimonies of how she championed the rights of the marginalized sector.
“They want to tell the story of how agrarian reform helped them, how they were able to send their children to college and how they no longer go hungry today. [It is because] someone helped them in their struggle, and one of those figures is Leni,” Samahang Tsinelas’ Soc Banzuela said Wednesday.
In 2007, 163 farmers from Sumilao marched on Manila to assert that the 144-hectare ancestral land in the municipality acquired by a corporation was covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
Three years later, San Miguel Corp. handed over to the farmers 50 hectares of its estate and another 94 hectares in surrounding areas that were within the vicinity of the contested property.
Banzuela said that instrumental to the Sumilao farmers’ victory in their 20-year struggle for land rights was the assistance given to them by the nongovernment legal group Sentro ng Alternatibong Lingap Panligal (Saligan), to which Robredo was an active member.
He pointed out that the farmers also felt a personal connection to Robredo since during their 63-day march in 2007, it was only Naga City, whose mayor was Robredo’s husband Jesse, which gave them a warm reception, with the city council even passing a resolution of support to them.
“When the farmers look back on their experience, their experience in Naga is the one that brings tears to their eyes. They were very well-received in the city. They felt affirmed that they’re correct in their struggle,” Banzuela said. He added that the farmers would later learn that it was Robredo who was behind it all.