The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP)-Negros denounced the eviction of residents and bulldozing of land in barangays Gatuslao, Agboy and Payauan in the town of Candoni, Negros Occidental on July 23. The eviction was related to the plan of the Consunji family to set up a palm oil plantation in the area. The Consujis’ Hacienda Asia Plantation Incorporated (HAPI) is seizing 6,652 hectares of land for the said plantation.

Residents said the land being seized is classified as forest land. Indigenous people inhabit the 4,000 hectares and thus selling the land is illegal.

“We must challenge the decision of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the local government’s environment committee, and the local government itself for allowing the reclassification of the area and disregarding the impact on the settlement and livelihood of the residents and the environment itself,” said KMP-Negros.

The DENR has entered into an agreement with HAPI for an Integrated Forest Management Agreement (IFMA) that will allow the construction of the plantation by changing its use.

The IFMA will grant exclusive rights to the development, management, protection and use of a designated area of forest and its resources. It will last 25 years and can be extended for an additional 25 years.

The Gatuslao Agro-Forestry, Banana, and Sugarcane Farmers Association (GABASFA) said that at least 1,000 farmers and their families, including indigenous people, may be evicted because of the plantation.

“In the past, the LGU said that it would provide livelihood to the residents but the residents working in the plantation are now being evicted in batches,” according to the group.

Candoni local government officials themselves are peddling the “benefits” the plantation that will allegedly bring to their town and its people. They disregard its serious impact on the lives and livelihoods of farmers and indigenous people in the three Candoni barangays.

The farmers assert that they will stay and defend their right to their lands. Many of the families here have been farming and living in the area for the past 60 to 70 years.