WALK: Framing a Successful Agrarian Reform Campaign in the Philippines1.

In 2007, farmers from Sumilao in the Mindanao province of Bukidnon walked 1700 km from their homes to the capital, Manila, in an attempt to win back the 144 hectares of land that should have been distributed to them via the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). Not only were they successful, but their victory was perceived as a landmark event by the people in the agrarian reform movement. The Sumilao Walk affected how later campaigns were organized, in particular the likewise successful 2009 national CARPER (CARP Extension with Reforms) campaign. This study aims at understanding the processes behind the mobilization strategies that formed the basis of an ultimately successful campaign. Collective action frame theory constitutes the theoretical framework. The Sumilao farmers' campaign conclusively led to two important outcomes. It strengthened horizontal relationships in civil society between agrarian reform SMOs and increased cooperation between the agrarian reform movement and the Catholic Church, facilitated by a shared non-violence methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]