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By William B. Depasupil Reporter
THE Church supporting the cause
of the poor farmers of Sumilao, Bukidnon is anchored on realities on
the ground indicating that the farmers were the aggrieved party in
the contested 144-hectare estate, according to a member of the
influential Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
“The support of the bishops are
based on personal testimonies and their knowledge of the history [of
the contested property],” Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Yñiguez told
The Manila Times.
The outspoken bishop made the
clarification in reaction to a statement made by the spokesman of
the Norberto Quisumbing Sr. Management and Development Corp. (NQSRMDC),
the former owner of the Sumilao property, calling on Church leaders
“to be just and fair in addressing the issues in the name of
progress and in the spirit of fairness and Christian charity.”
Bishop Yñiguez cited in
particular the testimony of Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal
Rosales, who once served as archbishop of Malaybalay in Bukidnon,
where Barangay Sumilao is located.
“Cardinal Rosales served in
Malaybalay, Bukidnon. He knows the history. He vows to help the
farmers,” Yñiguez added, even as he clarified that the stand of
the bishops supportive of the Sumilao farmers is not the stand of
the entire membership of the CBCP.
Among the bishops supporting the
Sumilao farmers, besides Yñiguez and Rosales, are CBCP president
and Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo; Lingayen, Dagupan Archbishop
Oscar V. Cruz; Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo; San
Fernando, Pampanga Auxiliary Bishop Pablo David; and CBCP
vice-president and Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma.
In a statement, former Masbate
Vice-Gov. Antonio Ag. Medina, the NQSRMDC spokesman, expressed hope
that the Church hierarchy will eventually favor San Miguel Foods
Inc. (SMFI), the new owner of the Sumilao estate.
“We have high hopes that as we
start the new year, bishops concerned about the Sumilao issue will
see the light and wisdom of allowing SMFI, without opposition to
start operations in the name of progress and for the greater good of
the poople of Sumilao town and the adjoining areas that will greatly
benefit from the company’s state-of-the-art agribusiness
operation,” the spokesman said.
The bishops’ intervention, he
added, was most welcome but cautioned them as well, saying that
showing “extreme concern and bias” to unwarranted farmers’
claims to a piece of land they never owned nor tilled from the very
beginning may encourage more land adventurism not only in Sumilao
but also elsewhere in the country, to include Church lands intended
exclusively for religious and evangelization purposes.
“I have deep trust and faith
that our good and revered bishops will at the end of day, truly
appreciate the creation of jobs and incomes that will be generated
by SMFI’s operations, compared to the minimal benefits accruing to
the Bukidnon communities if and when said land will be awarded to
the two dozen farmer-activists,” Medina said.
He also reminded the bishops that
“the subject land to be appropriated to the farmers may involve
costly and tedious legal processes” as the Supreme Court had
already decided with finality on the Sumilao land conversion.
Medina urged the bishops to be
just and unbiased to both farmer-activists and landowners alike as
both are members of the Church, and are entitled to equal protection
in the spirit of fairness and Christian charity.
Yñiguez reasoned out that there
are always two sides to an issue and “if SMFI feels that they are
being aggrieved, they can send to us [their representative] and we
are willing to listen.”
“We are lopsided [in favor of
the farmers] because it was the personal testimony of Cardinal
Rosales who knows what really happened and knows the history of the
land,” Yñiguez said.
Earlier, Cardinal Rosales has
raised the idea of a dialogue between the Church and San Miguel
Foods Inc., which is now developing the Sumilao estate into an agri-industrial
farm, to thresh out the problem and come out with a win-win
solution.
“We’ll go there if it’s for
the good [of the Sumilao farmers],” Rosales said, adding that he
has no doubt that the SMFI, a subsidiary of business giant San
Miguel Corp., will heed the Church’s call because “they are
Christians too.”
The Church, Rosales stressed,
will not waiver in its support for the farmers’ quest for justice
and their land.
The CBCP vice-president,
Arhbishop Ledesma, on the other hand, expressed hope that even the
court would soon come out with a “cease and desist order”
against SMFI to stop its operations and release a Notice of Coverage
to rectify errors committed by government to the Higaonon farmers.
Ledesma said all-out support
should be extended to the farmers “because I know of almost
similar cases that remain unresolved.”
He added it may be imperative for
the government to extend the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program
for a few more years.
For his part, Pabillo, chairman
of the Episcopal Commission on Social Action of the CBCP, said that
government neglect was the cause of the farmers’ problem.
The prelate said he is hoping
that the President’s effort to help the farmers is not only
because the bishops already tried to intervene on the case.
“I hope this will not be the
case always. I hope time would come that the proper attention be
given directly to anybody with valid cause,” Pabillo stressed.
“The merit of the case should speak for itself rather than the
people behind it.”
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