Security agency, army men tagged in Ecija farmers’ slay

By Ding Cervantes and Manny Galvez

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – A security agency identified with a politician and a police official was alleged to be behind the attack on farmers at Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija on Sept. 3 that left four dead and another wounded even as other reports said the assailants were military men.

Joseph Canlas, president of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), citing witnesses, said the gunmen were employed by an official of Palayan City and a Nueva Ecija police official.

Canlas said the victims were resting after working on the field at around 2:30 p.m. when they were fired at.

 The fatalities were identified as Baby Mercado, Violeta Mercado, Eligio Barbado and Gaudencio Bagalay. Angelita Milan remained confined in a hospital in Cabanatuan City.

Canlas said the victims were among the farmers tilling a portion of the 3,100 hectares of Fort Magsaysay military reservation, which were awarded to them on Nov. 5, 1991 under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. 



The KMP called on the Department of Agrarian Reform and the human rights committee of both houses of Congress to investigate the incident.

“We challenge the Duterte government to give justice to the victims of the Fort Magsaysay carnage and hold the perpetrators accountable,” Canlas said.

Angelita Milan was taken to a hospital in Cabanatuan City for treatment. 

Witnesses claimed the armed men were accompanied by individuals identified with a local official in Laur, Canlas said.

Canlas said the victims were members of the Samahang Alyansa ng mga Magsasakang Naninirahan sa 3,100 Ektarya.

He said the victims have been tilling parts of the 3,100-hectare property of the Fort Magsaysay military reservation, which had been turned over to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) for land reform coverage.

The area was initially designated as a relocation site for victims of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991.

He said after the volcano’s eruption, the Department of National Defense issued a deed of Transfer, turning the lands over to DAR.

“DAR never implemented the land reform and parts of the property are now being claimed by some military and local officials,” he said.

A response team composed of members of farmers’ groups – Tanggol Magsasaka, KARAPATAN Gitnang Luzon, Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan sa Gitnang Luzon – were expected to conduct an ocular inspection at the crime scene yesterday.

Meanwhile, the national government is abandoning a plan of the previous administration to build a P50.3-billion NBP facility in Fort Magsaysay due to the high cost of the move.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre revealed the scrapping of the project during a congressional hearing last week..

Aguirre said the NBP is no longer transferring to Fort Magsaysay and would remain in Muntinlupa City.

“The buildings alone will cost at least P50 billion or more than $1 billion,” Aguirre told lawmakers.