Barangay captain and environmental defender Antonio Tolentino was detained for eight years on trumped-up criminal and administrative charges for protecting farmers’ rights from land grabs in Ayalalan.
Tolentinto chairs Aniban ng Nagkakaisang Mamamayan ng Hacienda Dolores (Hacienda Dolores United Citizens Association, ANIBAN) under the Nationally Organized Movement for Agrarian Reform and Social Justice (KATARUNGAN).
He mobilized the community despite the increase in violence. Together, they have documented more than 30 cases of property destruction, victimization, unlawful arrests, fabricated allegations, threats and intimidation, forced surrenders and signed waivers, and forced recruitment of local indigenous Ayta people as guards and thugs.
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Ayalaland Logistics Holdings Corp has been linked to widespread violence against locals fighting for land rights in Hacienda Dolores, including the imprisonment of village chief Antonio “Apung Tony” Tolentino.
The disputed land is located in Hacienda Dolores, a barangay in Pollak, Pampanga. The site is ecologically significant and sensitive as it is located in the forest upstream of the river.
Property developers, including Ayalaland, started buying and taking over farmers’ land as early as 2005. Ayalaland wants to develop a luxury mixed-use commercial center as the next Makati brand, currently the largest financial center in the Philippines.
Locals claimed protection of their land rights under the Comprehensive Land Reform Plan (CARP), but their land was ordered exempt without any prior consultation and notice.
Former Department of Land Reform (DAR) regional director Narciso Nieto granted the exemption because the land was allegedly unsuitable for farming, despite Dolores having been farming it for nearly 200 years.
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Developers have complete control over them, and despite their long history of farming, they forcefully deny farmers access and ownership. Companies force their way into farms, clearing the land with heavy machinery, aided by private armed security guards and hired thugs.
Police teamed up to physically harass and criminalize land rights defenders. More than 300 farmers were forcibly evicted and many houses were burned to terrorize them. Developers destroy crops and livestock.
On January 13, 2014, security stopped farmers on their way to the farm. Enraged, the security guards opened fire on the farmer, killing 34-year-old ANIBAN secretary Arman Padino and wounding two others – Noel Tumali and Antonio Tolentino.
Tumari and Tolentino rushed to the scene to support the farmers and captured a security guard when one citizen was arrested, but the others fled.
Thirty fighters then arrived in barangay to arrest Tolentino on false charges for his meddling in the April 16, 2014 killings.
