On the sixth day of the farmer camp-out in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) national office, farmers from Hacienda Luisita and Hacienda Tinang in Tarlac, Masinloc in Zambales, and Anunas in Pampanga held a picket protest to denounce the worsening cases of land use conversion, landgrabbing, and state neglect across Central Luzon.
The protest follows a series of unfulfilled dialogues with DAR since the March Kampuhan ng mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luson, where farmers had already presented evidence of violations committed by landlords, corporations, and local officials.
Over the years, vast portions of Hacienda Lusita have been converted for commercial and industrial use. Around 500 hectares were approved for conversion as early as 1996, while Ayala Land, Inc. has since acquired around 290 hectares for its P18 billion Crescendo township project.
Similarly, the Aboitiz Group, through its affiliates, has been eyeing over 200 hectares of land for industrial development, with more areas being reclassified for so-called “green energy” and economic zone projects.
In Barangay Taltal, Masinloc, Zambales, over 100 homes were demolished on June 19, 2025, to give way to a private development project. Police and sheriffs carried out the demolition despite residents’ petitions to DAR, asserting that they had tilled the land since the post-war period. DAR had earlier declared parts of the 32-hectare area “unfit for agriculture,” a move that effectively facilitated its conversion and the eviction of the community. Five farmers and fisherfolk were arrested during the violent demolition.
Central Luzon remains one of the regions hardest hit by land use conversion, with thousands of hectares of productive land being transformed into industrial parks, residential estates, and ecozones often with DAR’s approval.
The farmers vowed to continue their camp-out until the massive mobilization tomorrow at Liwasang Bonifacio for Peasant Month, and as an action condemning widespread corruption in the government.
updates from the peasant movement of the Philippines 