Mendiola Massacre
| Mendiola massacre | |
|---|---|
| Location | Mendiola Street, San Miguel, Manila, Philippines |
| Date | January 22, 1987 approximately 4:30 p.m. (UTC +8) |
| Target | Demonstration |
|
Attack type
|
Shooting |
| Weapons | Small arms |
| Deaths | 13 |
|
Non-fatal injuries
|
74 (51 demonstrators, 23 state security forces) |
| Perpetrators | Philippine state security forces |
The Mendiola massacre, also called Black Thursday by some Filipino journalists, was an incident that took place in Mendiola Street, San Miguel, Manila, Philippines on January 22, 1987, in which state security forces violently dispersed a farmers' march to Malacañang Palace in protest of the lack of government action on land reform.
Calls for just and comprehensive land reforms to President Corazon Aquino sparked rallies and demonstrations participated by farmers, workers, and students. According to reports, antiriot personnel guised as civilians, opened fire on unarmed protesters initially killing at least 13 protesters and injuring almost 100.
Corazon Aquino's election to the presidency brought about the prospects of rebuilding the formal institutions of democracy and the fundamentals of the Philippine economy left weakened by the regime of the ousted dictator, Ferdinand Marcos. Optimism towards the Aquino administration was counteracted by political instability brought about by the dictatorship. Conflicts with secessionist groups in Mindanao, ballooning national debts, and severe economic inequality plagued the newly-installed administration.
One such severe manifestation of the economic inequality can be seen in the agrarian problems of the Philippines at that time. Promised land reforms during the Marcos regime failed to bring agrarian justice to the farmers. Instead, the cronies and oligarchs of the Marcos regime perpetuated the abuse of farmers and peasants. The newly raised administration acted as a fresh opportunity for minorities to supplicate their respective grievances. The farmers pushed to the new government amendments in the agrarian law. However, their representatives were told by Minister Heherson Alvarez to wait for the finalization of the new Philippine Constitution and the new Congress, which made the farmers suspicious of this indecisiveness. Furthermore, the new Congress that would supposedly make the laws that will carry out the reforms was dominated by the landlords.
Aquino’s EO 229 failed to address the root of agrarian problems of the country, disappointing the farmers and causing them to protest against the administration.
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (Filipino: "Farmworkers Movement of the Philippines"), a militant farmers' group led by Jaime Tadeo, demanded genuine agrarian reform from the Aquino government. On January 15, 1987, members of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas encamped at the Ministry of Agrarian Reform (now the Department of Agrarian Reform) in Diliman, Quezon City.The group presented their problems and demands: give land for free to farmers, end thw retention of lands by landlords, and stop the amortizations of land payments. Dialogue between the farmers, represented by Jaime Tadeo, and the government, represented by Agrarian Reform Minister Heherson Alvarez, took place on January 20, 1987. Alvarez promised to bring the matter to the President's attention during the next day's cabinet meeting.
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