Members of an International Learning and Solidarity Mission (ILSM) on Tuesday, Oct. 14, condemned alleged rights violations and environmental destruction at the palm oil plantation of Hacienda Asia Plantations Inc. (HAPI) in Candoni, Negros Occidental, and are demanding that it ceases its operations.
HAPI operates a reported 6,652.32 hectares of land in barangays Gatuslao and Agboy, Candoni, under an Integrated Forest Management Agreement (IFMA).
Its officials could not be reached for comment on the ILSM claims.
RJ Ledesma, one of the ILSM members, said that they are gathering complete evidence for the filing of a Writ of Kalikasan against HAPI before the Supreme Court.
A Writ of Kalikasan is a legal remedy against large firms that cause irreversible damage to the environment, he said.
“It (HAPI) must be held liable for all the socioeconomic, psychosocial, and environmental damages it has caused. The lands it has damaged should also be rehabilitated,” Ledesma said.
Makabayan President Liza Maza announced that Makabayan will file a House resolution to conduct a congressional inquiry into the violations.
She said that the legislative investigation should determine how IFMAs and other similar forestry management agreements, and the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA Law), are being used to displace farmers and Indigenous Peoples.
Ledesma, Maza, Rev. Fr. Melvin Fajardo of the One Negros Ecumenical Council, Ariel Casilao of Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA), and Jenny Rapiz of Alyansa nga Magbubukid ng Bulacan held a press conference in Bacolod to share their ILSM preliminary report.
Various local and international organizations joined the ILSM in Candoni from October 12 to 13 to investigate “the injustices faced by the local farmers, workers, and indigenous peoples at the hands of HAPI,” they said.
HAPI has come under criticism, with Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson and Candoni Mayor Ruiz demanding the suspension of all “earth-moving” activities in June of this year.
Despite this, and the fact that the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR) still has not issued an Environment Compliance Certificate, HAPI has allegedly continued its planting, they added.
The initial findings of the ILSM team point to human rights and labor violations, military and police harassment, forced displacement, and serious damage to local water sources, their report said.
The report cited extensive environmental degradation caused by massive tree cutting and terracing of forest land, with native trees flattened or having exposed roots along the terraced slopes.
This deforestation has also led to the loss of wildlife habitat once home to wild boars, monitor lizards, deers, and various native birds, it added.
The “earth-moving” activities, like illegal quarrying and terracing, have caused severe soil erosion, increasing the risk of landslides and unstable terrain, the report said.
“What we have witnessed in our two-day exposure trip in Candoni were clear violations of the integrity of God’s creation. Church people, and all sectors, must unite to end the destructive practices of HAPI,” Fr. Fajardo said.
“HAPI, Inc is destroying the livelihoods of these farmers. From bulldozing their crops to military harassment, the farmers and IPs’ land rights are not being respected,” Rapiz said.
The ILSM team is calling for the revocation of IFMA granted to HAPI.
“All of its operations should be urgently ceased. The right to land, livelihood, and culture of poor indigenous farmers of Candoni should be ensured,” it said.
It also called for an end to alleged military harassment against the Candoni farmers, a Commission on Human Rights investigation, and for the provincial and municipal governments to stand firm with their constituents against HAPI.*