Peasants and indigenous residents from the town of Candoni, Negros Occidental protested on March 10–11 outside the Barangay West gymnasium during the assembly for Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). Farmers and indigenous people were rightful participants in the assembly, but Hacienda Asia Plantations Inc (HAPI) personnel and 15th IB soldiers openly refused them entry.

The FPIC is the “consent” granted by indigenous people for a project. It is a requirement for HAPI’s application for an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). The permits cover the operation of a 6,652.32-hectare oil palm plantation across the barangays of Gatuslao, Payawan, and Agboy in Candoni.

HAPI’s plantation will occupy land stolen from peasants and the indigenous Ati people through an Integrated Forest Management Agreement (IFMA) with the DENR in 2009. The agreement covered Ati ancestral lands. The IFMA is a mechanism that grants private companies exclusive rights to “develop, manage, protect, and utilize” a designated forest area and its resources.

Aggressive evictions of residents in the affected barangays for the plantation began in July 2024. The residents’ strong resistance temporarily halted HAPI’s operation in June 2025 after it was exposed that the did not have an ECC. Consequently, HAPI is now railroading and manipulating the process.

Peasants and indigenous people said only selected residents who favored HAPI and the oil palm plantation were allowed into the FPIC assembly. It turned out that most of the assembly’s delegates did not own any land in the affected barangays and areas.

The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas–South Negros, the environmental group Save Tablas, and the human rights group September 21 Movement–South Negros expressed support for the protest by farmers and indigenous people. The groups said that HAPI’s manipulation and deception, as well as that of National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) officials who supervised the FPIC, gravely violates the rights of farmers and indigenous people.

Farmers and indigenous people again demanded that the oil palm plantation is stopped, any permit for HAPI is denied, and the IFMA that violates residents’ rights is completely scrapped.