Around 1,000 farmers and members of multi-sectoral groups on Tuesday gathered in Liwasang Bonifacio, before marching to Mendiola, Manila to protest against corruption and to call for agrarian reform and farmers’ rights in commemoration of Peasant Month.
Farmers from Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog started their protest in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform early Tuesday morning before converging with multi-sectoral groups in Liwasang Bonifacio via caravan.
Luning Trinidad, a farmer from Hacienda Luisita in Central Luzon, claimed that the military is being used to intimidate the farmers who are protesting for their rights.
‘The military is being used to intimidate people who are fighting for their rights. But the people there, especially in Central Luzon, because land-use conversion is rampant there, will not stop fighting for their rights,’ Trinidad, speaking in Filipino, told the Liwasang Bonifacio crowd.
‘Let us not be afraid, and let us not stop. Because if we stop, who else will fight for the rights of our children, the next generation?’ she continued. Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) Secretary General Ronnie Manalo also rallied and marched alongside his fellow farmers from Liwasang Bonifacio to Mendiola.
‘The main problem of farmers is still the lack of land. There is no real land reform. The land they [farmers] farm is being converted, and then there is the lack of subsidy support to boost their production,’ Manalo told the Inquirer in Filipino.
He then pointed out the irony in the lack of funding for farmers affected by natural disasters, while billions of government funds are allegedly being misused.
‘There are no funds allocated for compensation for farmers affected by typhoons, floods, and droughts, but we know that billions of government funds are being embezzled, going only to corruption for the luxury and vices of those in power, especially traditional politicians,’ Manalo said in Filipino.
Manalo then suggested that the funds that were misused must be returned and re-allocated to agricultural productions, particularly in post-harvest facilities.
‘The funds that went to corruption should be given to farmers to develop our local production for post-harvest facilities. For example, the dryers, the warehouses, the rice mills, the irrigation, compensation for farmers who are victims of calamities. For us to develop, we must strengthen our local production and not rely on imports,’ he added in Filipino.
Former Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Liza Maza was also in attendance at the rally, where she called for accountability from public officials.
She also highlighted the rights of farmers, whose livelihoods are affected by flooding in the country.
‘Attention is also being drawn to this kind of corruption in the lives and livelihoods of our farmers. Like the farm-to-market roads that were corrupted. Like the flood-control projects that were corrupted, where their crops were flooded, their livelihoods were really affected,’ Maza said in Filipino.
In July 2025, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported that the cyclones and the monsoon rains damaged 43,741 hectares of farmland valued at P1.12 billion. It also reported that over 45,000 farmers and fisherfolk were affected.
According to the Department of Agriculture, it allocated P400 million in its Survival and Recovery program, which supposedly provides grants and zero-interest loans to calamity-affected agricultural households.
The Philippine Crop Insurance Corp also said it provided P268 million worth of compensation to nearly 46,000 farmers. /jpv