At around 3:00 a.m. last July 27, around 1,000 farmers from different provinces in Southern Tagalog were resting in a covered court in Brgy. Old Balara along Commonwealth Ave in Quezon City. Tired from a whole day journey to reach Quezon City in time for protests on the eve of President Aquino’s fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA), most of the farmers, including women and children, were asleep when fully armed members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) awakened them and forced them to find another place to sleep.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Southern Tagalog, who organized the contingent, said they were forced to pack up in the middle of the night and seek shelter elsewhere, despite having a permit from barangay officials to sleep in the said covered court.

“Ganito karahas ang PNP at estado. Hindi pa man SONA ay pinaparanas na ni Aquino ang bangis nito laban sa mga mamamayan,” Bayan-ST said in a statement.

Below are some photos of the early morning dispersal of farmers by the PNP by the multimedia group Southern Tagalog Exposure. Benjie Villacruel, a volunteer of ST Exposure, told Pinoy Weekly that he was prevented from taking more photos of the farmers being herded away by the police, because he was threatened by a policeman that his camera will be broken. “Babasagin ko ‘yang camera mo,” the unnamed policeman allegedly told him.

Around 10,000 policemen and 400 military personnel have been deployed in Commonwealth Ave. to try to prevent protesting citizens from getting near Batasang Pambansa, where Aquino will hold his SONA.