The terrorist campaign of repression by the US-Marcos regime in collusion with landlords against the rural peasant masses continues to intensify. In recent weeks, cases of killings of farmers in Masbate, arrests in Palawan, and land grabbing and eviction in Bataan, Cavite, Laguna, Cebu, and Iloilo have been recorded.

Killing. Soldiers of the 2nd IB killed two farmers in Purok 3, Barangay Simawa, Uson on September 26. The victims, Roger Clores and Ronnel Abril, were the 34th and 35th victims of the 2nd IB’s killings in the province.

The village-folk refuted the military’s report that the two victims were killed in an encounter, even claiming that various firearms were seized. They testified that Clores and Abril were their neighbors.

Arrest. Sefriano Liabres, organizer of the Samahan ng mga Magsasaka at Katutubo ng Mindoro, was illegally arrested in Taytay, Palawan on October 1. He was undergoing medical treatment when police apprehended him.

Land grabbing. Thugs of Hacienda Borromeo repeatedly fired at the farmers of Barangay Pandacan, Pinamungahan, Cebu on September 23. The members of Baybay II Farmers Association are opposing their eviction. They have been tilling the land for several generations.

In Iloilo, nine farming families in Barangay San Jose, San Miguel were forcibly evicted from their homes on October 2 by Communities Iloilo Inc, a subsidiary of Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc, owned by the Villar family. The Villars are notorious for grabbing agricultural lands and converting them into subdivisions.

In Laguna, peasant residents of Barangay Casile, Cabuyao protested against the fencing of the 24-hectare land in the barangay on September 23 by the Emirates Security Agency and Santa Rosa Realty Development Corporation, owned by the Yulos. The fencing and threats from the guards prevented the farmers from tending to their crops. The Yulo family is one of the largest landowners in the province.

In Cavite, over 100 police and military personnel under the Task Force Ugnay of the 202nd IBde again attacked and attempted to enter Lupang Ramos in Dasmariñas, Cavite on September 26. For one month prior to this, state forces have repeatedly attacked the farm to break the unity of the farmers.