Human rights group Karapatan denounced a series of raids and harassment against peasant leaders and rights advocates.

The latest incident happened on June 18 in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan where soldiers ransacked the house of Tanggol Magsasaka Secretary-General and Spokesperson Ronnie Manalo.

Cristina Palabay, secretary-general of Karapatan, said in a statement that these incidents may be a “prelude to a major crackdown against peasant leaders, activists and farmers’ rights advocates.”

According to KMP, soldiers forcibly entered Manalo’s unoccupied house at around 7:00 am on June 18. The group said that the soldiers, reportedly belonging to the 80th Infantry Battalion, illegally searched Manalo’s house and claimed to have found a firearm. Just like in previous raids of activists’ houses and offices, KMP stressed that the evidence was fabricated.

Karapatan added that the soldiers who interrogated Manalo’s relative were not accompanied by police officers or village officials.

On the same day at around 10:30 am, soldiers went to the house of 63-year old Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Bulacan (AMB) Chairperson, Cecilia Rapiz in barangay Paradise 3, San Jose Del Monte City in Bulacan asking for her whereabouts.

“Local residents reported seeing a company-size group of soldiers along the common boundaries of barangays San Roque, Paradise 3 and Tungkong Mangga. Checkpoints have reportedly been set up in the area, preventing residents of San Roque and Paradise 3 from leaving their villages,” Palabay said. She added that the planting of a firearm in Manalo’s residence “shows that State forces are concocting a trumped-up case of illegal possession of firearms against him.”

The villages of San Roque, Paradise 3 and Tungkong Mangga are known as a major source of produce for the Bagsakan Bungkalan Farmers Market, a farm-to-market project of the KMP that holds bazaars in different parts of Metro Manila to sell lower-priced fruits and vegetables grown by farmers nationwide. Rapiz is known to be among the active producer-sellers for Bagsakan.

According to KMP, farmers have observed an increased presence of soldiers in civilian communities over the weekend. “Almost a hundred combined forces of soldiers from the 80th IBPA, PNP-SAF, and SWAT started conducting operations in at least six sitios in the SJDM villages of Barangay San Roque, Barangay Paradise 3, and Barangay Tungkong Mangga, merely 25 kilometers away from Quezon City proper. The said military operations in the peasant communities of SJDM are causing intense fear and distress among residents and farmers.”

Both Manalo and Rapiz were victims of persistent red-tagging, threat, harassment and intimidation by state forces defending their land rights.

Farmers are defending their rights in San Jose Del Monte as their land is reportedly being grabbed by the Aranetas.

In 2022, KMP said Manalo and Rapiz were frequently visited by the military. Manalo, in particular, was part of a team of farmers and peasant advocates in 2022 who were fired upon and harassed by goons hired by Araneta Properties Inc. in Sitio Ricafort, Tungkong Mangga in SJDM.