On the 25th anniversary of the Mendiola Massacre

When the Mendiola Massacre happened in Jan. 22, 1987, it dashed all hopes that then-Pres. Cory Aquino would fulfill her electoral promise of implementing genuine land reform. The Cory Aquino regime not only ignored farmers’ calls for agrarian reform, it inflicted violence against farmers asserting such calls. The Mendiola Massacre signaled the repression of farmers struggling for land reform nationwide throughout the Cory Aquino regime.

Today, as we mark the 25th anniversary of the Mendiola Massacre, we declare Noynoy Aquino a failure in agrarian reform like his mother. He has chosen to implement the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms or CARPER, which worsened the bankrupt program implemented by his mother. Despite a Supreme Court ruling ordering the distribution of Hacienda Luisita’s lands to farmers, he is maneuvering to maintain his family’s ownership of the lands or to increase the government’s compensation for his family.

Noynoy Aquino’s key policies and programs are set to further the dispossession of farmers and the poor, as well as intensifying repression against those fighting for land reform. The Public-Private Partnership program is premised on handing out huge tracks of lands to big foreign and local capitalists. The Charter Change scheme that is being rushed by his allies aims to allow 100% foreign ownership of lands and public utilities in the country. Oplan Bayanihan, on the other hand, aims to suppress farmers and other sections of society fighting for genuine land reform.

Genuine agrarian reform is the litmus test of change. It is the answer to the centuries-old clamor of majority of our people, the farmers and farm workers, for land. Noynoy Aquino, like his mother, has failed the litmus test of genuine change, of agrarian reform.