Residents of Sitio Balubad, Barangay Anunas marched in Angeles City, Pampanga on March 12 to demand justice for the violent and illegal demolition of their community on March 12, 2024. During the demolition, 600 families and 48 farmer-beneficiaries of the certificate of land ownership award (CLOA) were displaced from their land, covering 73 hectares.

Indiscriminate police gunfire injured five Balubad residents. Around 500 combined forces of the police and hired goons of Clark Hills Properties Corporation attacked the residents’ barricade last year. Houses near the barricade were destroyed, and village entry points were forcibly breached while the demolition team threw stones at barricading residents.

In June 2024, Sitio Balubad resident Gregorio Navarette, injured in the police shooting, died from intestinal infection caused by a bullet wound that led to repeated hospital visits.

Anunas United Farmers and Homeowners (AUFH) led the Angeles City march. Supporting the residents’ struggle were Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon (AMGL), Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA), Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), and organizations advocating for peasant rights. They called for justice for the displaced residents and held a prayer vigil for those who sacrificed in defending their land.

Residents first erected their barricade in October 2023. Through their unity and resistance, they thwarted two demolition attempts in October 2023 and February 2024. In March 2024, they were violently dispace by the police and Clark Hills.

CLOA and receipts of full payment to Landbank of the Philippines prove residents own the land. There have long been fears that land grabbing and demolition would also affect neighboring barangays Cuayan and Sapangbato.

In mid-2024, the city’s local government offered relocation to the displaced residents in the town of Magalang. The offer of a three-hectare relocation site in Barangay San Ildefonso, near the border of Concepcion, Tarlac, was described by residents as an insult—inhumane and unfit for Sitio Balubad’s people. Each affected resident was offered a 45-square-meter plot.

“The land grabbing in Sitio Balubad is proof of worsening semi-colonial and semi-feudal exploitation of land. As the state continues to favor privatization and land-use conversion, landlessness, hunger, and displacement among citizens worsen,” Sama-samang Artista para sa Kilusang Agraryo (SAKA), a group supporting farmers in the country, said.

Residents continue their legal battle to reclaim their land while launching protests to pressure the local government and Marcos administration. Farmers call for genuine agrarian reform in the country to ensure their right to land.