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BACOLOD City: Farmers on their
17th day of hunger strike in front of the Department of Agrarian
Reform (DAR) central office in Quezon City called on President
Arroyo to take the responsibility to install them at Hacienda
Velez-Malaga and fire Secretary Nasser Pangandaman for being unfit
in his job.
Florenda
Hilario, 48, said installing them is a responsibility of the
President since Pangandaman as Cabinet secretary is her alter ego.
“Whatever
Pangandaman does reflects on the President’s policy and
governance. If she is a sincere leader, she will look into our case
and take action,” Hilario said.
“Kahiya-hiya
para sa isang pangulo ang ginagawa sa amin ng kanyang kalihim, kaya
dapat siyang kumilos. I-install niya kami sa aming lupa at tanggalin
niya si Pangandaman [What her secretary is doing to us is a shameful
thing for the president, so she has to act. She should install us in
our land and fire Pangandaman],” she said.
“Maybe
Secretary Pangandaman wants us to die,” she said, adding that
they will still continue with their hunger strike.
Hilario and 21
others the other day ate lugaw (gruel) when they heard that Pangandaman
went to Bacolod City to install the farmer-beneficiaries, as he had
publicly promised.
However, they
were disappointed to hear in the afternoon that Pangandaman had
called off the installation to allegedly to avoid untoward
incidents.
“All he has
is an alibi. He doesn’t really want to install us because, for
some strange reason, he is deeply beholden to landowner Roberto
Cuenca,” Hilario said.
The protesting
farmers had earlier accused Pangandaman of reneging many times on
his promises to install them.
She said
Pangandaman called off the installation on December 7 last year
after he reportedly received a call from Rep. Ignacio “Iggy”
Arroyo asking him to abort. Another installation was scheduled on
February 6, but DAR did not push it through.
 --Panay
News
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