Residents of Sitio Sangilo, Barangay Macabaklay, Gapan City, Nueva Ecija once again endured intimidation and harassment from land-grabbers on the morning of July 2. They were threatened with forced eviction and the destruction of their crops if they did not leave the community by morning of June 3.

According to residents, an individual claiming to own the land named Rey Tan stormed the sitio. He was accompanied by Gapan City Chief of Police PLTCOL Wilmar Binag, personnel aboard police mobiles, and several armed men in civilian clothing. “They arrived in five vehicles around 11 a.m. or 12 p.m., large-bodied armed men in civilian clothes,” Mary Jean Bote, spokesperson for the Bayanihang Magsasaka ng Sangilo Association Inc. (BMSAI), said.

The peasants and residents of Sitio Sangilo are being evicted to make way for the MTerra Solar Project. The project will cover 3,500 to 7,000 hectares of agricultural land across towns in Nueva Ecija and Bulacan. It is being built by Meralco PowerGen and the foreign firm General Atlantic.

According to the Movement Against Destructive Solar Farms (Madsolar), a newly formed group opposing destructive solar farms, the incident is not a simple land dispute. Along with threats and property destruction, MTerra and its agents have filed a string of trumped-up charges against the peasants in recent years to silence their resistance and criminalize the legitimate defense of the land that sustains them. “This is blatant terror against the people,” according to the group.

Since 2024, the company has continuously bulldozed and destroyed farmlands in Sitio Sangilo. At least 30 hectares of crops have been destroyed, causing immense financial losses to the farmers. Cong. Emerson Pascual and his warlord father, Boy Pascual, are involved in this destruction. Their armed group is also suspected as behind the burning of plantations of coconut, calamansi, banana, grapefruit, and other livelihoods of the people.

“Through intimidation, violence, and deception, they are gradually seizing the land so they can profit from the rent and compensation from the giant MTerra Solar project,” Madsolar said. Due to relentless intimidation, some farmers have been forced to abandon their fields.

The student council of Central Luzon State University (CLSU) and Anakbayan-Nueva Ecija expressed their support for the farmers of Sitio Sangilo and their organizations, BMSAI and the Sitio Sangilo United Farmers Association Inc. (SUFFAI).

“It is only right for the student youth to align themselves with the Novo Ecijano peasants to carry their demands and unite in their struggle,” the CLSU student council stated. It encouraged fellow students to be critical and closely monitor the situation facing Sitio Sangilo, as well as the whole of Nueva Ecija and Bulacan, amid the onslaught of destructive solar farms.

Madsolar emphasized that fighting for the right to land and livelihood is not a crime. “The real criminals are the corporations, their politician accomplices, and the armed forces used to suppress the just resistance of the people. The fight for land, livelihood, and genuine social justice continues,” the group concluded.