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Filipino farmers mark massacre

Police are deployed at Mendiola Bridge to guard against protesters in Manila, Philippines, yesterday. PHOTO: EPA

Several thousand farmers and left-wing activists marched through the Philippine capital yesterday to mark the 1987 massacre by troops of 13 demonstrators who were seeking the fair distribution of farmland.

A phalanx of riot police and soldiers used barbed wire and concrete barriers to blockade Mendiola, a historic Manila bridge, to prevent the farmers from getting close to the presidential palace, Malacanang.

Authorities warned last week that communist rebels and disgruntled soldiers could be planning to infiltrate rallies and provoke violence around the anniversary of the 2001 "people power" revolt, which passed without incident on Sunday.

Yesterday's rally was led by the left-wing Farmers' Movement of the Philippines (KMP), which authorities say is linked to communist rebels. KMP Chairman Rafael Mariano has denied the group plans to destabilize the government.

About 3,000 farmers and left-wing protesters took part in the march, radio and TV reports said.

Citing security concerns, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim barred the farmers from holding rallies near Malacanang, and police chief Geary Barias said he would try to divert their march to other areas.

The protesters said they wanted to light candles at Mendiola for the 13 farmers who were shot dead during a clampdown on farmers' demonstrations in 1987. A year later, then-president Corazon Aquino signed the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law that redistributed land to tenant farmers.

Until then, nearly all farmland was owned by a handful of powerful families, and half of the country's estimated 10 million farmers were landless or squatters.

Meanwhile, Philippine Christian leaders yesterday called on the government and rebels to revive talks to end a near 40-year conflict, saying they would take active steps to help forge a truce.

Roman Catholic and Protestant bishops said the government should implement genuine land reform to close a widening income gap between elite landowners and millions of landless laborers.

"We would really like to make sure that no more blood should be shed on both sides because we're really all brothers and sisters," said Antonio Ledesma, Roman Catholic archbishop of Cagayan de Oro City on the southern island of Mindanao.

"We'll take a more active role in the communities, helping educate and raise awareness on the essential issues as well as putting more pressure on both sides to return to negotiations," he said.
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