Luardo Yac was a 59 year old farmer and peasant leader, he lived in Barangay Poblacion, Guihulgan, Negros Oriental.
On September 7, 2017, he was on his way home from the Dumaguete hospital, from where he had just being discharged after being treated for gunshot wounds from another attempted murder on September 1, 2017. He was in a motorcycle, driven by another man, when 2 unidentified men, also in a motorcycle, shot them. Luardo was killed instantly and the driver was injured.
Military agents are suspected to be responsible for Luardo Yac’s killing.
He was a member of Kapanungan Alang sa Ugma sa Gagmayng Mag-uuma sa Oriental Negros (KAUGMAON), a peasant organization working for land reform and peasant’s rights and welfare in Negros.
Negros Island is economically and politically dominated by the owners of huge sugar cane plantations, leading to a great number of land conflicts. Aside from that, it has been the focus of the Philippine security forces’ anti-insurgency campaign against the New People’s Army for decades. In this context, workers and farmers who organise to demand their rights become targets of the security forces.