23,000 Leftist Peasants Stage Anti-Aquino Rally

MANILA —  More than 23,000 farmers protesting alleged military abuses and seeking land reform marched on the presidential palace today in the largest left-wing protest against President Corazon Aquino’s government.

The members of the leftist farmers’ group, marching from north and south of the capital, met at the palace’s main gateway and rallied peacefully for two hours.

Chanting “answer to poverty, rat-ta-ta-tat, boom, boom, boom,” the peasant protesters raised clenched fists and made pistol signs using the extended forefinger and thumb. Signs said “Cry of the farmers, justice and peace.”

They removed barbed wire barricades two blocks from the palace, but were stopped by 1,000 soldiers, six fire trucks, three SWAT jeeps with mounted machine guns and an armored personnel carrier.

The protesters tried to send an 11-member delegation to see Aquino but were told she had a busy schedule and was unavailable.

The march and rally were held to mark the signing of a land reform law by then-President Ferdinand E. Marcos a month after he declared martial law in 1972. The land reform was never implemented.

“Eight months after Aquino took power, there has been no clear-cut law on land reform,” said peasant leader Jaime Tadeo.

A petition addressed to Aquino demanded the government end alleged abuses by soldiers, “militarization in the countryside” and urged dismantling of the paramilitary Civilian Home Defense Forces and private armies.