With other democratic sectors, thousands of farmers marched from Liwasang Bonifacio to Mendiola in Manila on October 21 to mark Farmers’ Month. They called for genuine land reform and accountability from the Marcos regime and all those involved in corruption. October 21 is also the day when dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr enacted Presidential Decree No. 27, the bogus land reform law.

They bannered the call: Marcos, pest, exterminate! Reject the puppet, oppressive, fascist US-Marcos regime! During the program, protesters worked together to “exterminate” an effigy of a rat with the face of Ferdinand Marcos, symbolizing the harm he caused to the lives and livelihoods of farmers.

The mobilization is a culmination of a week-long campout that farmers from Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, and Negros set up in front of the Department of Agriculture beginning October 15. The campout served as a center for protests, discussions, cultural performances, medical services, and interactions with various organizations from student, worker, urban poor, professional, and other sectors.

From October 15, farmers roused government offices and agencies to express their anger and grievances. From the campout, farmers from Central Luzon brought the “Save the Rice Granary” campaign, referring to the vast rice fields in the region that are threatened by widespread land use conversion. They warned against the proposed National Land Use Act (NaLUA), which would accelerate land use conversion by removing agricultural lands from the protected category. They also demanded an increase in palay farmgate price and the repeal of the Rice Tariffication Law, which has pushed down local rice prices due to massive rice importation.

“Any campaign to save the rice granary must include reversing liberalization policies that have eroded national food security and the self-sufficiency of the countryside,” they said.

Negros farmers and farmworkers brought numerous cases of human rights violations committed by soldiers and police in their communities under the US-Marcos regime. They called for the abolition of the NTF-Elcac, which leads red-tagging and repression. They also denounced Marcos’ Memorandum Circular No. 83, which expanded NTF-Elcac’s influence over civilian bureaucracy through the National Action Plan for Unity, Peace, and Development (NAP-UPD).

Meanwhile, farmers from various provinces of Southern Tagalog brought their land and livelihood struggles to the gates of the Department of Agrarian Reform itself.

In Davao City, national-democratic groups under the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan gathered at Freedom Park with the call “Hold Marcos and Duterte responsible! Overthrow bureaucrat capitalism!” They also demanded the immediate release of the Agusan 6 and other farmers and their supporters.

In Cebu, progressive organizations under BAYAN Central Visayas marched from Freedom Park to Colon in solidarity with the farmers’ call for genuine land reform.

In Panay, farmers and progressive groups braved the rain and marched to the Iloilo Provincial Capitol to demand higher buying prices for palay and additional funds for agriculture and local production. Their call: budget for production, not for corruption.