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Ilocos folk demand eviction of Army camp

Peasants, HR groups cap peace caravan with Candon march-rally

CANDON CITY, Ilocos Sur (Jan. 21) – Ilocos peasant organizations and human rights advocate groups are carrying their fight all the way to AFP camps in the heavily-militarized towns of this province, to the extent of posting an eviction notice at the entrance of an Army battalion camp.

BAYAN-Ilocos General Secretary Romy Sanchez recently said that their anti-militarization campaign scored some breakthroughs in December last year when hundreds of protesters, mostly peasants and human rights advocates from Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur and La Union, converged on this city to demand the pullout of what they called “abusive Army troops.”

In the Ilocos-wide, two-day commemoration of International Human Rights Day from December 9 to 10, 2004, around 450 people attended the Peace Caravan and March-Rally for Peace led by BAYAN-Ilocos, the peasant alliance STOP-Exploitation, and the Ilocos Human Rights Alliance.

In a militantly defiant move, the protestors trooped to the camp of the Army’s 50th Infantry Battalion, Charlie Company, in barangay Amguid of this city and posted a symbolic eviction notice amidst loud chanting of anti-militarization slogans.

Big farmer contingents from the three Ilocos provinces joined the two-day Peace Caravan, which made the rounds of the militarized towns of Sta. Cruz, Sta. Lucia, Banayoyo, Galimuyod, and Salcedo, including some barrios of Candon City itself. (More photos in our Photo Gallery on p.7.)

Riding on two buses, eight motorbikes, and 12 jeepneys, small trucks and vans, the Peace Caravan participants covered more than 30 barrios in support of local protests against the heavy deployment of AFP battalions in the area.

As the caravan wound its way through the militarized barangays, the protestors distributed leaflets and gathered more reports of alleged AFP abuses. They later held a peace vigil on the night of Dec. 9, where a big audience watched video documentaries on human rights.

The protestors capped the caravan with a march-rally on Dec. 10 in the main streets of Candon.

Meanwhile, representatives of the mass organizations sat in a dialogue with local officials of two municipalities.

In the said meeting, protest leaders asked local officials of Galimuyod and Banayoyo to oppose the AFP plan to set up the 50th IB headquarters and deploy more troops in their respective towns. The battalion hq. is currently based in San Juan town.

The local officials included the current mayor, an ex-mayor, two municipal councilors, and the municipal administrator of Banayoyo, and the mayor, vice-mayor, five municipal councilors, and municipal administrator of Galimuyod.

Many of the officials reportedly expressed opposition to the said plan to encamp the Army battalion in their area.

Sanchez of BAYAN-Ilocos said the big farmers’ contingent also used the two-day protest to reiterate peasant rights, including genuine land reform, adequate social services, and reasonable prices for farm products.

Ilocos farmers increasingly realize that the economic crisis and human rights violations have worsened under the Macapagal-Arroyo government, and are enough grounds for them to seek GMA’s ouster, Sanchez added. # NORDIS – Ilocos Sur

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