LKY Group of Corporations personnel attempted to fence the communal garden of the residents of Barangay Cota, Daco, Gubat, Sorsogon on March 7, at 7:00 am. LKY is a company owned by Wilbert Lee, a large construction contractor and representative of the Agri Partylist in the reactionary congress.

The Save Gubat Bay Movement’s Facebook page reported that LKY personnel harassed them while struggling to build a fence. The residents demanded to wait for the court’s decision before evicting them from the said area.

Residents say among those who insisted were one Rico Pugnit, a company guard, one alias Kwatog, and another man who was carrying a machete and fencing materials.

The next day, March 8, a group of women members of the Save Gubat Bay Movement fenced the parcel of land to block the landgrabbing but LKY men destroyed it. The assailants even threatened and shouted at the women. Asuncion Rosal, a senior citizen, fainted in fear of Lee’s thugs.

The contested land is part of the coast where road was supposed to be built but was successfully blocked by the Save Gubat Bay Movement in 2022. More than two hundred families or more than a thousand individuals live in that area. Court currently hear the disposition of said land.

According to the Save Gubat Bay Movement on Women’s Day, the incident shows the continued pressure of those in power on mothers whose only desire is decent living for their family.