Workers support nationwide Lakbayan for land and justice

As the nationwide Lakbayan of farmers kick off today, labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno and its regional formations vow full support to the 10-day march for land and justice, saying “workers are one with farmers in pushing for genuine land reform and fighting for justice for all victims of state terrorism.”

KMU said workers will be joining the Lakbayan contingents from Mindanao and Northern Luzon at various key points as expression of their solidarity and support for peasants victimized by massive land-grabbing and military repression under past and present regimes.

“Those who stand in the way of the struggle for land and justice should be warned: thousands of workers are uniting with throngs of farmers to deliver a strong and militant statement against their schemes. The historic march across the archipelago shall expose their decades-old monopoly of land in this country,” said KMU chairperson Elmer “Bong” Labog.

“We, workers, are uniting with peasants because we are well-aware that the foreign-dominated economy that we have today can only be changed by pushing for land distribution to farmers to ensure sustainable agriculture for Filipinos,” he added.

Labog said Lakbayan contingents will also be welcomed by thousands of workers upon their entry to Metro Manila. The nationwide Lakbayan will be capped by a long march from the Department of Agrarian Reform to Mendiola on Jan. 22 in commemoration of the 1987 Mendiola Massacre, wherein 13 protesting farmers were brutally killed by police forces.

“Workers are one with peasants in seeking justice for all slain farmers who fought for genuine land reform. We are also one with them in fighting massive land-grabbing, as many of us were displaced from our homes in the countryside and were forced to resort to low-quality work in cities due to land conversions and military occupation and harassments,” the labor leader said.

Labog said workers are also victims of state-sponsored violence, the most notable case of which is the brutal dispersal and killing of seven striking workers in Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac.

“At this point in history, workers and farmers have a common enemy – and that is no other than the anti-farmer, anti-people regime of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,” Labog added. #