By TJ Burgonio, Carla Gomez
www.inquirer.net | Last updated 06:33am (Mla time) 03/23/2007
MANILA, Philippines — After 11 years of waging battle in the courtroom and on the streets, 57 of the 122 farmer-beneficiaries of a sugarcane plantation in Negros Occidental subjected to land reform were finally installed Thursday in a portion of the area in the face of stiff resistance by another group of farmers.
“This is a victory not only for us, but also for all the farmers and the poor in the country,†Eledelyn Paclibar, 55, said in an interview inside the tent the farmers had pitched outside the Department of Agrarian Reform office in Quezon City to call attention to their plight.
Paclibar and 17 other beneficiaries hailed the installation which was led by Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman. The event took place on the 29th day of their hunger strike. As a goodwill gesture, they lifted their fast in the afternoon.
Blessing
“This is a blessing that we have not expected,†Gregorio Paclibar, 71, said, a smile forming on his lips.
“We’re happy about it. We just wished it didn’t take a hunger strike to get us installed. But we’re happy just the same,†Florenda Hilario, 48, who had just returned from the hospital at dawn Thursday after being treated for dehydration, said.
In La Castellana, tension remained high after unionized farm workers identified with landowner Roberto Cuenca vowed they would rather die than let the farmers identified with the militant peasant group Task Force Mapalad possess the contested land.
They also threatened to burn down houses that would be built by the newly installed farmers.
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