Candoni Residents Protest PHP2B Palm Oil Project Impacts

By Juliane Judilla

Almost a year after farmers and residents were forced to evacuate to make way for a PHP2 billion palm oil plantation in Candoni, Negros Occidental, several residents are speaking out about their situation and demands.

In a report released in July 2024, residents of Barangays Gatuslao, Agboy and Payauan in Candoni, Negros Occidental, were displaced to make way for a PHP2 billion palm oil plantation by Hacienda Asia Plantations Inc. (HAPI Inc.), a company owned by the Consunji family—the same firm behind mining operations in Semirara Island, Antique.

Early reports said bulldozing activities forced people from their homes and disrupted livelihoods, despite claims from the local government, through Councilor Dember Catipunan, that the project would create 3,000 jobs.

Residents argued that the sale of 6,652 hectares, including 4,000 hectares of Indigenous land, was illegal.

A 42-year-old female member of the Tribu Bukidnon in Sitio Cogon, Barangay Gatuslao, who requested anonymity, said their community—about 30 households—is part of a 300-hectare ancestral territory.

She added that despite living in the area for years and complying with all necessary requirements, their registration with the local government unit and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) remains pending.

She was among those hired by HAPI Inc. as part of its initial workforce.

She worked as a seed bagger in nursery operations, handling between 50,000 and 120,000 seedlings per nursery, with six to seven nurseries currently active.

She added that most seed baggers were women earning PHP448 daily, with PHP8 deducted as “tax.”

Work started at 6 a.m. until noon, resuming from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., often under the sun, and even during rain, they were sent home without pay.

None of the workers received standard employment benefits, including Social Security System (SSS) coverage.

Her contract was not renewed after just two months, with management citing a lack of available work.

However, she observed that new workers were hired and others retained, raising concerns about retaliation or discrimination.

When she was offered a new service contract in February 2025, it only guaranteed one month of employment.

This pattern of short-term, unstable contracts reflects the broader precarity of plantation labor, especially for Indigenous workers displaced from ancestral lands and traditional livelihoods.

With few options after her land was bulldozed, she has repeatedly returned to the plantation seeking work, illustrating the exploitative cycle of dependence faced by Indigenous communities stripped of land and economic autonomy.

Carlito and Leslie Catacata, a farming couple from Purok 4, Barangay Caning, manage a five-hectare sugarcane plantation under the Gatuslao Agroforestry Banana and Sugarcane Farmers Association (GABASFA), where Carlito serves as president.

On May 5, 2024, while the Catacatas were at church, most of their sugarcane field was bulldozed by HAPI Inc.

When they returned home, they found only one hectare of their land remained untouched.

The area had been cordoned off by HAPI Inc. security personnel, including around 200 armed men, allegedly former CAFGU members from Mindanao who had been stationed there since March in makeshift camps.

Despite the couple’s plea for help, police said they could not act without a directive from the mayor.

Complicating matters, Carlito has faced criticism from some organizers for allegedly acting as a broker for small landowners.

The Catacatas documented the destruction and posted photos online, but were ordered by the mayor to take them down—a request they refused.

Since then, they have been barred from entering even the remaining hectare of land, under threat of trespassing charges.

Carlito questioned the legality of HAPI Inc.’s operations, citing the lack of any official local government resolution and questionable documentation from 2023 farmer consultations.

The couple has since faced harassment, including a visit from six men believed to be state agents, who questioned their affiliations and red-tagged their lawyer.

They were also pressured to serve as informants but declined, choosing to stand firm despite intimidation.

For residents, HAPI Inc.’s public claims contradict the reality on the ground.

They said that instead of livelihood and land security, they are being given false and destructive policies—policies supported by the very government that should be protecting them. (Photos from Facebook/Save Tablas)