29/03/2026
AGRI-WORKERS: GOV’T INACTION OVER OIL CRISIS AGGRAVATES CORPORATE CAPTURE OF FARMLANDS
Press statement - 29 March 2026 - UMA
On March 29, Global Day of the Landless, agri-workers accused Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of using the ongoing energy crisis, spurred by US imperialist aggression on Iran, to fast-track land-grabs for the expansion of corporate plantations. Widespread peasant landlessness already made food production a precarious livelihood; inexcusable government inaction amid skyrocketing fuel costs made it even more so.
Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (Federation of Agricultural Workers) pointed out that 425 gasoline stations were already out of commission, and feared that just as many farmlands, if not more, were on the brink of similar inactivity. If oil prices continued to pose obstacles to productivity, the few farmers who still retained control over their farms may not afford to keep their lands for much longer.
This made agri-workers suspicious that the US-Marcos Jr. regime was keeping oil prices high by design. Not only was this beneficial to the oil cartel led by Petron President and CEO Ramon Ang; it was also compatible with Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s continuation of his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte’s goal of expanding corporate plantations to cover at least 20% of the country’s total, albeit diminishing, agricultural lands.
“Pito hanggang siyam sa kada sampung magsasaka ang walang sariling lupa,” explained UMA national chairperson Ariel ‘Ka Ayik’ Casilao. “Kapag pinagkombina mo ang mga bisyo ng pamahalaang ito — mula importasyon ng bigas hanggang deregulasyon ng langis — tiyak na maisasagad nito sa sampu kada sampung magsasaka ang walang lupa dahil ipinasuko na itong lahat sa mga korporasyon.”
GOV’T INACTION INCENTIVIZES LANDGRABS, ABUSE
The federation argued that by refusing to abolish value-added and excise taxes and ignoring the call to control oil prices, the US-Marcos Jr. regime made farming unviable, thereby enabling corporations to corner farmers, especially agrarian reform beneficiaries, into agri-business venture arrangements that forced them to give up control of their land in exchange for the possibility of regular employment.
But employment for agri-workers — landless farmers entering the wage relation — was rarely regular. It therefore rarely came with pay they could live on. In a 2024 study conducted by the Institute of Labor Studies of the Department of Labor and Employment, the government documented barely 46% of sugar workers were permanently employed, and almost 68% of them earned less than P10,000/month.
UMA-Isabela attested to DOLE’s own findings. At Green Future Innovations Inc., a bioethanol company in Sta. Maria owned by the landgrabbing Lorenzo clan, the pakyaw system ruled the sugarcane fields. A cut-and-slash team of 12-15 would work 11-12 hours to complete a truckload of 10 tons/day at the rate of P500/ton. After deducting the GFII contractor’s fee of P100/ton, the remains would be split among them.
“Kung para sa mga pesante, pasakit ang imperyalistang gera ng US-Israel sa Iran, para sa mga landgrabber, biyaya ito,” complained the former Anakpawis lawmaker. “Biruin mo, kung landgrabber ka, dalawang antas ang tulong sa iyo ng gobyerno: pinadali na nito ang pang-aagaw ng lupa, pinadali pa pati ang pambabarat sa mismong mga manggagawang agrikultural na inagawan mo ng lupa.”
GOV’T INACTION COURTS PROTEST, REVOLT
Agri-workers made the same demands as transport workers did during the latter’s strike this week. UMA emphasized that all toiling masses stood to gain from the abolition of VAT and excise taxes as well as that of the Oil Deregulation Law. The federation also echoed the call made by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan for the state to reclaim Petron from private control to regain influence on the market price of oil.
Should Marcos Jr. heed these calls, the gains to be made from their implementation could only be sustained with further, more fundamental reforms: from the establishment of a wealth tax, to make up for the losses from VAT and excise tax and fund social services; to the abolition of the regional wage board to institute a national minimum wage that approximated the family living wage at P1,200/day.
Most importantly, UMA called on fellow peasants to carry on with the struggle for genuine agrarian reform and national industrialization. Only by gaining control of the country’s domestic resources, land foremost, could the toiling masses direct the flow of raw materials from foreign demands to local needs. These would pave way not only to food sovereignty but also to the creation of basic industries.
“Hangga’t isinusubo ninyo ang bayan sa krisis, sinusulsulan din ninyo ang makatwirang paglaban at pag-aalsa ng mamamayan,” Ka Ayik warned the government. “Alalahaning sa pagharang ninyo sa mga lehitimo at demokratikong panawagan ng karaniwang Pilipino, kayo rin ang nagbibigay-katwiran sa iba pang anyo ng pakikibaka — kasama ang pagtangan ng armas para magrebolusyon.”
