Nearly 200 farmers, fisherfolk, and members of an indigenous group in Casiguran, Aurora Monday expressed their opposition to the establishment of the 12,852-hectare Aurora Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) in a recent meeting with human rights lawyers from Central Luzon.

ASEZA is a pet project of Sen. Edgardo Angara and his son, Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, and its funding for this year has been raised to P800 million after the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) restored a P500-million cut. This figure is still way below the proposed P1.1-billion budget.

Residents of Barangays San Ildefonso, Culat, Cozo, Dibet and Estevez met with members of the Public Interest Law Center-Central Luzon (PILC-CL) to discuss the implications of their planned protest against ASEZA.

Militant groups belonging to the Multi-Sectoral Action Group are against the project.

At the core of the opposition to the project is the inclusion of land tilled by farmers, particularly large tracts of rice fields in Diber and Estevez, which the people in Aurora consider as their main rice producing areas.

Fr. Jose Francisco Talaban of the Nuestra Señora de la Salvacion Parish in Barangay Bianoan said the Catholic Church has joined the cause of the various non-government organizations (NGOs), farmers, women, fisherfolk and members of the indigenous community in rejecting the ASEZA.

Crucial to the Aurora folk is the loss of land as ASEZA's coverage has been expanded and could enlarge and later on embrace a large swathe of land in the province.

The priest claimed that even Casiguran Mayor Reynaldo Bitong has expressed opposition to the special economic zone.

Moreover, the residents decried the lack of proper consultations with the residents of the five barangays who will be directly affected by the ambitious project, which the Angaras maintain is needed to spur economic progress and development in the province.

However, Talaban said the affected people will never give nor even sell their land because that is the source of their livelihood.

"Hindi namin ipagbibili ang aming lupain kahit alukin kami ng malaking halaga dahil para sa amin ang lupa ay buhay, ang lupa ay aming kinabukasan, ang lupa ang aming hanapbuhay.

Kapag tinanggalan kami ng lupa, paano na kaming umaasa sa lupang sinasaka," the villagers told Talaban.