After 1,700 km, farmers start Metro ‘tour’ Jerome Aning Inquirer
December 05, 2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Higaonon farmers who embarked on a long march on Oct. 10 from the land they are claiming in Sumilao, Bukidnon, began their “tour” of Metro Manila Tuesday to seek help from the government as well as cause-oriented groups.
Looking exhausted, the farmers -- down to 55 from their original number of 63 -- passed through Baclaran in Parañaque City. They arrived in Metro Manila on Monday and have marched some 1,700 kilometers.
Members of militant groups met them at the Manila Film Center and escorted them to the Senate in Pasay City, where they were met by a number of senators.
The farmers’ ultimate destination is the Department of Agrarian Reform central office in Quezon City, where they said they would camp out until their appeal to stop the land-use conversion of a 144-hectare property in Barangay San Vicente, Sumilao, had been resolved.
Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman flew to Bukidnon Tuesday to inspect the disputed property now owned by San Miguel Foods Inc. (SMFI), a subsidiary of San Miguel Corp.
“We plan to stay for some time in front of the DAR to await Secretary Pangandaman’s decision. We will not go home empty-handed,” said one of the marchers, Napoleon Merida Jr., chair of the San Vicente Landless Farmers Association.
The farmers have gained the support of other farmer organizations such as the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, and religious lay groups such as the Samahang Lingkod ng Bayan.
Malacañang had earlier ordered Pangandaman to rule on the dispute. He is scheduled to make an announcement at a press conference Wednesday morning.
‘Undo past mistake’
Merida called on Pangandaman “to undo the past mistake” of the DAR and do the farmers justice this time by giving back the land that was awarded to them more than 10 years ago.
“The DAR abandoned us in the past by letting the land conversion order go unchallenged," Merida said.
The marchers are among the 137 identified farmer-beneficiaries of the former Quisumbing Estate in Bukidnon, which was placed under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and redistributed on Sept. 25, 1995, through certificates of land ownership award.
These certificates were entered into the Sumilao Register of Deeds on Oct. 13, 1995, and were the basis of the farmers’ claim of vested rights over the estate.
But in March 1996, then Executive Secretary Ruben Torres issued an order allowing the conversion of the property from purely agricultural to agri-industrial use. The order effectively provided the Quisumbing family an escape from the CARP.
In August 1999, despite opposition from DAR officials, Torres’ order was upheld by the Supreme Court.
In 2002, the Quisumbing family sold the property to SMFI.
Last year, as the farmers were preparing to reclaim the property on grounds that the five-year period for implementing the new land-use plan had lapsed, SMFI announced that it would set up a hog farm -- an activity that was not specified in Torres’ order for land-use conversion.
According to Merida, the Supreme Court upheld Torres’ conversion order because the DAR failed to file a motion for reconsideration on time.
“As a result, the farmer-beneficiaries’ certificates of land ownership award were canceled, and their land was given back to the landowner who, in the end, did not honor the land conversion order,” Merida said.
Cease and desist
Pangandaman had said he intended to see for himself what was happening on the ground before deciding on the farmers’ demand that a cease-and-desist order be issued against SMFI and that the property be again put under CARP coverage.
But Merida said that if Pangandaman really wanted to, he could have issued a cease-and-desist order while the DAR review of the case was pending.
He said he and the other farmers were hoping that Pangandaman would have a sense of urgency in deciding on their case.
“We are afraid that the next time we hear from Secretary Pangandaman, he would tell us to wait and be patient,” Merida said.
He said Pangandaman had made the same admonition to farmers of Hacienda Velez-Malaga in Negros Occidental province. As a result, he said, the delay in the resolution of the case created the condition for the buildup of violence.
“We hope this does not happen in the Sumilao case,” Merida said.
Overnight at seminary
The farmers marched through Makati City later Tuesday. They were to spend the night at the San Carlos Seminary.
Wednsday, they will make a stopover at the SMC offices in Pasig City before continuing their march to Quezon City.
They are to hear Mass at the Church of Gesu at the Ateneo de Manila University, which will be celebrated by Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, a former bishop of Bukidnon.
After a picket at the House of Representatives, the farmers are to set up camp on Thursday at the DAR central office and make another “side trip” to Manila, where they will try to hold a rally at the historic Chino Roces (formerly Mendiola) Bridge.
