Philippines: Land rights defenders injured in conflict with Clarkhills Properties; incl. company non-response
In March 2024, at least seven land rights defenders from Sitio Balubad, Angeles have reportedly been injured after the police, alongside people allegedly hired by Clarkhills Properties Corporation opened fire on the protesting farmers. Reporters covering the demolition were reportedly also harassed and threatened.
Clarkhills Properties has been trying to gain control of a 72-hectare landholding since October 2023 that had already been awarded to the farmers under the government’s agrarian reform program after they had completed paying the required amortization. The Department of Agrarian Reform, however, later voided the Certificate of Land Ownership Award granted to the farmers, leading to a series of violent attempts by Clarkhills Properties to seize the land from the residents.
The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Clarkhills Properties to respond; it did not.