Sumilao Farmers: The Great Sacrifice and Victory!

I was touched by this article about the lumad farmers in the southern part of the Philippines trying to claim back their ancestral land. They have sacrificed so great to claim what was theirs in the first place; by marching on foot for sixty days (October 10, 2007 to December 10, 2007).

Fifty lumad farmers left their daily routine and their families to join the march which started from Sumilao going up, to the country's capital, Manila. A lot of support were extended from all sorts of groups -- from religious to non-religious. (“Lumad” is the term given to the indigenous peoples in the southern island of Mindanao.)

The 60-day on-foot march that Sumilao farmers staged, reaped its rewards last March 29, 2008 in the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement. It was agreed that the farmers will be given back their ancestral land -- a total of 144 hectares in Sumilao, Bukidnon.

Personally, I am not a big fan of political stuff. But hearing about the Sumilao famer's plea, I was so touched that I decided to write something about it; that even my simplest gesture of distributing their story around the globe would contribute something good. There are a lot of groups out there who also have their own pleas which are being disregard by their respective governments; hoping that the Sumilao Farmer's story may bring a sense of inspiration to them. A sense of hope -- that not all pleas are left unheard.