KMP after four decades

MANILA – How can you be proud of your harvest if the fruits of your labor are claimed by others?

Tilling the land that is not their own, farmers continue to work even if they rarely taste their own harvest. As the crops grow, the farmers remain tied to the landlords. And as the years pass, the roots of landlessness in our society seem to grow even deeper.

For more than a century, the struggle for land has continued, a fight that began during the Spanish era when vast lands were owned by the church through various religious congregations and a few families under the hacienda system. It was here that the farmers’ call first echoed: land for those who till it. This cry continued during the American period, the first Republics, and rose again under the dictatorship of Marcos Sr.

On July 24, 1985, amid fear, violence, and repression, the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) or Peasant Movement of the Philippines was founded. It was led by farmer leaders, activists, and various peasant organizations from different regions of the country. Despite the danger, they chose to form a movement that would unite the voices of the farmers, a voice long silenced. Their vow was clear: land, livelihood, and justice for those who truly plant.

Even before it could fully take root, the KMP was met by challenges. With every step came obstacles; with every call came danger. Under Martial Law, the people’s rights were suppressed and organizations critical of the government were banned. Many farmer leaders were arrested, tortured, and killed simply because of their call for land reform.

In the countryside, soldiers were watching and guarding every move of the farmers. Amid fear and violence, they continued to till the land, hoping that one day, the land they worked hard for would finally be theirs.

But the promised reform remained hollow. Marcos Sr. implemented Presidential Decree 27 (PD 27) in 1972 which was said to distribute land to rice and corn farmers. However, only a few benefited. The vast haciendas and plantations were not covered by the law, leaving most farmers still without land. Even during Cory Aquino’s administration under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), the feudal system that favored landlords was never dismantled.

Amid fake reforms and repeated promises, KMP remained firm, continuing the struggle even when it cost them lives.

With every strike of the plow and every drop of the farmers’ sweat comes a cry that has grown stronger for 40 years: the land belongs to those who till it. Until now, the KMP continues to fight for farmers’ rights to land, livelihood, and justice in the face of policies that further impoverish them.

KMP continues to push in Congress for the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) and Rural Industrial Development Act (RIDA), measures that aim to end feudalism in the countryside and promote national industrialization.

But instead of achieving the long-awaited dream of genuine land reform, the intervention of foreign powers in the country’s agriculture has only deepened. KMP has shown that over time, the influence of the United States in Philippine policy remains profound, from agriculture to security.

As the defender of the peasantry, KMP’s stance against imperialist policies is clear. It condemns programs like Masagana 99 and the role of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the so-called Green Revolution which led to debt and dependence of local farmers on foreign technology and seeds.

KMP also takes a firm stand against military agreements such as the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), and Balikatan Exercises which allow the presence of American troops in the country and endanger rural communities.

KMP was among those that led the campaign to remove US military bases in 1991. It remains critical of neoliberal policies like the Rice Liberalization Law, World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund–World Bank, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), andRegional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), agreements that opened the floodgates to imported goods and slowly destroyed local food production.

For KMP, the true solution is food sovereignty—the people’s right to produce their own food on their own land, using their own natural resources, without dependence on foreign control.

Under the Marcos Jr administration, farmers still bear a heavy burden. Programs like Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) and New Agrarian Emancipation Act (NAEA) only divide and turn collectively owned lands into “sellable titles.” According to KMP, these programs do not bring justice but make it easier to sell land to corporations and foreigners.

Through Executive Order 62 (2024), the rice tariff was lowered to 15%, causing rice imports to rise to 5.4 million metric tons, the highest in history. Instead of helping local production, this further reduced the price of palay and affected farmers’ livelihoods.

Under the Build-Better-More program, land conversion also expanded. Thousands of hectares of farmland were turned into industrial and commercial zones, driving farmers away from their longtime homes. Instead of fields of crops, the government planted buildings and expressways.

According to government data, 72% of farmers owned no land from 2012 to 2022. In 2024, agricultural damage due to consecutive typhoons and El Niño reached ?60 billion. But instead of aid, loans were given, including a $1 billion loan from the World Bank in 2025, which will further trap the country in foreign debt.

While the administration continues to open the economy to large corporations and foreign investors, farmers remain voiceless. Hence, KMP’s call is repeated: hold the Marcos Jr. regime accountable for the destruction of agriculture, for denying land to those who till, and for enacting policies that favor the few.

Despite all this, KMP remains strong. In the rice fields, the mountains, and the streets, its voice continues to shatter the silence. With every call of “Land, Justice, Freedom,” it reminds us that the fight for reform is also a fight for dignity and livelihood.

Forty years have passed, and with every challenge, the roots of the movement planted by the masses have grown stronger. As long as there are farmers who fight, as long as there is land being taken away, KMP will remain, the seed that will never be uprooted.

The KMP’s struggle is not confined to the Philippines. As it continues to fight for the rights to land and livelihood of the farmers in the country, KMP also proves that its voice reaches different parts of the world.

Together with various mass organizations, KMP actively participates in global issues that affect marginalized sectors, issues rooted in a common enemy: the imperialist system that continues to oppress the peoples of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Over the years, KMP has been part of global alliances such as the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) and the Asian Peasant Coalition (APC), both promoting the unity of peoples against exploitation and militarization by powerful nations.

In international news, KMP has not remained silent in the face of violence and oppression. One issue it strongly condemned is the ongoing genocide in Gaza, where thousands of innocent civilians are being killed in relentless bombings. According to KMP, the silence of governments complicit with the United States is equivalent to agreeing with injustice. Even the Marcos Jr. administration was criticized by KMP for supporting the US protectionist policy, which was denounced as another imperialist measure, one that strengthens foreign economies while burying countries like the Philippines in debt and import dependence.

On March 29, 2025, people across the world once again united to commemorate the “Day of the Landless.” In forty-two countries, simultaneous actions were held to assert the right to land, livelihood, and self-determination of farmers. In the Philippines, KMP led this commemoration, alongside calls for genuine land reform and the rejection of anti-farmer policies.

KMP’s attention is not only on Gaza or the Philippines. In India, it strongly condemned Operation Kagaar, a government military campaign against the Adivasi or indigenous communities. Under this operation, hundreds of families were evicted from their ancestral lands, and many lost their homes. Together with ILPS and other international groups, KMP stood firm that such militarization is not only a threat to the Adivasi but to all who fight for land and rights.

Through all of this, KMP shows that its struggle goes beyond the nation’s borders. The struggle of Filipino farmers is part of a broader movement for social justice and freedom for all oppressed peoples. In every call for land comes a call for global justice, a belief that the victory of one is the victory of all who fight.

In the rice fields slowly bowing under the weight of the grains, in the hands marked by the plow, and in the voices that are repeatedly silenced, there remains a cry that continues to echo: the land belongs to those who truly till it. For the farmers who have devoted their lives to planting and to feeding every Filipino. Forty years have passed since the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) first declared this, and to this day, their conviction remains alive.

Amid all of this, the KMP’s resolve has never faltered. They continue to organize, issue statements, and take part in protests. Mobilizations and solidarity efforts continue. Despite red-tagging, arrests, and the killings of farmer leaders, they remain standing. The martyrs of the movement, Ka Randy Echanis, Joseph Canlas, and others, have served as the fertilizer for the seeds that continue to grow in every village, every community, and every heart of a resisting farmer.

Forty years have passed since the KMP was founded, and through every hardship, triumph, and act of unity, the movement has proven that the seed planted by the masses will never wither. Despite violence, deceit, and oppression, KMP remains: struggling, uniting, and deeply rooted in every pulse of the land they fight for, always reminding us that “The land belongs to those who till it.” (RTS, DAA)

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