The two-day protest campout of peasants and farmworkers of Negros Island at the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) regional office in Bacolod City on January 20–21 exposed the worsening land grabbing, land conversion, and violations of farmers’ rights on the island.

The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP or Peasant Movement of the Philippines)-Negros and the National Federation of Sugar Workers led the protest. The campout primarily highlighted the latest attempted eviction and land grabbing case against farmers cultivating land in Hacienda Michaela in Barangay Talotog, Murcia, Negros Occidental.

Ta-ala Farms, Inc. owner Bonnie Ta-ala claimed the 22-hectare land as his property. Armed guards and company agents have encamped in the area since January 12 to drive out residents from their farms. Ta-ala claimed his company had “purchased” the land from landlord Arthur Bayona.

According to the Hacienda Michaela Farmers and Farmworkers Association, selling the land is illegal since it is is covered by government distribution under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. The DAR office in Negros Occidental reportedly issued a Notice of Coverage for the land as early as 2009.

KMP-Negros condemned DAR for its slow and apathetic response to the farmers’ grievances. The group said the agency continues to demonstrate its collusion with big corporations and landlords instead of defending the farmers.

Farmers lit candles on the night of January 20 to demand justice for peasant leader Alexander Ceballos, who was killed by the Duterte regime. The first farmer victim of extrajudicial killing under the Duterte regime, Ceballos was murdered on January 20, 2017.

The group also marked the January 22 Mendiola Massacre anniversary in the campout. Thirteen farmers were massacred on January 22, 1987, in Mendiola, Manila. They were among the thousands who marched to Mendiola to demand that then-President Cory Aquino implement genuine land reform.