Sunday, December 09, 2007
one with the sumilao farmers
OF A WALK tuesday, 04 december 2007, i found myself walking with the sumilao farmers, the farmers who walked from their homes in sumilao, bukidnon all the way to manila to ask the government (the DAR in particular) to return the 144-hectare land that they rightfully owned.
several interns of the ateneo human rights center (decided to relive their walking-during-immersion experience and) joined the farmers in walking from the senate to guadalupe, makati. prior to walking, a short program was held in front of the senate. listening to the farmers speak, i felt sad (to say the least), but what really moved me was when bajikjik (a 21-year-old girl who walked all the way from bukidnon to manila) held the mic to speak. she should be in school, but she chose to forego the same to fight for their rights. i admire her courage and determination, but most of all, i admire her passion.
it took us around 3 hours or so to get to our destination. aftter an hour or two of walking, i started to feel the tired. but the thought that the sumilao farmers had been walking for 56 days already (that day) kept me going. this was the least i could do to show support.
their 60-day journey to manila had just ended, but their quest to get back their land is far from over. last friday, the DAR secretary refused to issue the cease-and-desist order being asked in order to stop the illegal conversion of their farm land to agro-industrial land.
OF VISITS AND A MASS
the AHRC interns and some ateneo law students started to visit them in front of DAR where they are staying since friday night.
during one of the visits to the site (i refuse to call it a picket line), we met kuya toto (incidentally, he is bajikjik's father). he told us their story. he was here in manila 10 years ago, in 1997, he was one of the 10 farmers who staged a hunger strike then. now he's back from he started, fighting for the same cause in the same place. after all these years, they seem to have gotten nothing. i intently listened to each word he spoke. i'm always humbled by experiences like this. he said, he only reached grade school, yet i felt he knew a lot more than i did. his experiences and passion to fight for their rights more than made up for what he claimed to be a lack in formal schooling.
december 8, feast of the immaculate conception. tricia, vida and myself decided to hear mass at DAR with the sumilao farmers. after the homily, the women farmers were given the chance to speak about their cause. while grappling to understand their dialect, tears rolled from my eyes (oo na, iyakin talaga ako) as they spoke of their journey, their sacrifices, and how they felt (and are feeling) amidst everything that's happening.
when we were about to leave after the mass, we thanked them for letting us join them. nanay hilda (i remember her as the one who approached me last tuesday in the senate. she was telling me / us to just go straight to guadalupe since it would be a long walk and the rain was going to pour soon. i told her that we would be walking with them. she gave me a sincere thank you and then excused herself.) shook my hand then gave me a hug and whispered, "salamat ha. ipagdasal nyo kami... at sana manalo kami." i held back my tears and gave her an assurance, "opo, nay, lagi ko po kayong ipagdadasal."
their battle is far from over. when they left bukidnon, they agreed that they won't leave manila until they get back their land. walking more than 1,700 kilometers is hard, but leaving their families behind is definitely harder. i am one with their cause for social justice. i continue to pray that our government will do the right thing this time around. (as with a lot of things, it is just a matter of exercising political will.) i wish that they get their land soon, so they won't have to stay long here and be able to spend christmas with their families. and i hope the time will come that i will be able to speak for them (and other people like them) and be able to do more in fighting for their cause.
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visit: http://sumilaomarch.multiply.com
read their story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=105743
more on the matter: http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view_article.php?article_id=105605
more pics at MRD's site: http://markrobertdy.multiply.com/photos/album/322/2007-12-04_AHRC_the_Sumilao_Farmers
i'm back home
the past week (or 2 weeks) did it. after a self-imposed hiatus of sorts, (i think) i'm back home. for sometime, i chose to go away because some people, somehow forgetting the reason behind the things i love to do. but for the past days, i've realized one very important thing...
more than the people, what's more important is the cause.
