Farmers and resident members of the Anunas United Farmers and Homeowners Association (AUFHA) from Sityo Balubad, Barangay Anunas, Angeles City, Pampanga picketed in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and the House of Representatives in Quezon City on May 13 and 14. They urged that the 73-hectare land in Sitio Balubad that was seized by the Clark Hills Properties Corporation be returned to them.

AUFHA’s picket at the DAR national office followed their dialogue with the agency’s officials on May 13. They objected to the land grabbing by the private corporation Clark Hills despite the residents having certificates of land ownership award (CLOA) and receipts from the Land Bank of the Philippines showing that they have paid in full. They picketed today at the House of Representatives at the same time the Makabayan group was filing a resolution to investigate the violent demolition in their community.

More than 500 households or approximately 2,000 residents were affected by the demolition and land grabbing. Apart from this, land grabbing and demolition also loom in the adjacent barangays of Cuayan and Sapangbato.

In March, residents were evicted from their lands after a series of violent demolitions. These operations injured seven residents on March 12 in an unprovoked indiscriminate police firing while the residents’ barricade was being dismantled by 500 combined policemen and thugs of Clark Hills. Security forces assaulted even journalists who were in the area.

The Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luson (AMGL), the regional branch of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, previously stated that the land grabbing in Sitio Balubad is part of aggressive “development” projects in the entire province of Pampanga and even in Central Luzon which benefit only a few. They said this is part of the grandiose Greater Capital Region plan being peddled by business and the rich.