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Mendiola Massacre

January 22,1987 marked the day of the Mendiola incident often referred to as the “Black Thursday” or "Mendiola massacre”.

Calls for just and comprehensive land reforms to then President Corazon Aquino sparked rallies and demonstrations participated by farmers, workers, and students. Perhaps the most violent in recent memory is the dispersal of the protesters crossing the Mendiola bridge towards the Malacañang Palace. According to the reports, anti-riot personnel guised as civilians, open-fired on unarmed protesters killing at least 13 protesters and injuring almost a hundred .

Background

What caused this protest?

Aquino's election in the Presidential seat marked a new chapter for the Philippine democracy as she was tasked to rebuild the country from the rubble left by ousted dictator, Ferdinand Marcos. Optimism towards the Cory administration was counteracted by political instability born on the dictatorial regime. Conflicts with secessionist groups in Mindanao coupled with ballooning national debts and severe economic inequality plagued the newly installed administration.

One such severe manifestation of this 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 cronies and oligarchs of the Marcoses perpetuated the abuse of farmers and peasants. Cory’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, one of which was the free distribution of land to farmers. Dialogue between the farmers, represented by Jaime Tadeo, and the government, represented by then 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.

The response of the administration towards these protests, particularly in the Mendiola incident, was a violent dispersal. Whether or not it was a deliberate action or a miscommunicated order, the Mendiola incident showed that the people are dissatisfied with the self-preserving oligarchs-legislators that backed Cory’s administration. The violent dispersal became a tipping point for key anti-government groups such as National Democratic Front (NDF) to defer from the peace talks with the government ending hopes for peace reconciliation for the furtherance of agrarian reforms.