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By Jayson Cruz Luna, Contributor
After almost two decades of arduous battle to
press their supposedly legal claim to the “Promised Land,”
farmers from Sumilao in Bukidnon province emerged victorious. On
Saturday, they signed an agreement signaling formal handover to them
by San Miguel Corp. of the 144-hectare estate they had been
contesting.
The agreement was signed at San Carlos Seminary
in Guadalupe, Makati City, to cheers from those who witnessed it.
It was signed by Ramon Ang and Fransisco Alejo
for San Miguel Corp; Samuel Merida, Larry Carejo, Mercy Serona, and
Napoleon Merida Jr. for the Sumilao farmers; Secretary Conrado
Limcaoco for the Office of the President; and Secretary Nasser
Pangandaman for the Department of Agrarian Reform.
Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales and
Auxilliary Archbishop Broderick Pabillo also signed the agreement as
witnesses.
The agreement was the product of negotiations
started by Rosales after he expressed his support for the
cause of the Sumilao farmers in December 2007. At the time, the
farmers arrived in Manila after walking 1,700 kilometers from
Sumilao to dramatize their claim.
Under the agreement, the Sumilao farmers will
gain 50 hectares within the contested 144-hectare property through a
deed of donation by San Miguel Corp.
The remaining 94 hectares will be taken from
properties outside but within the vicinity of the contested area.
These will be distributed to the farmers through the Voluntary Offer
for Sale scheme under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
The Sumilao farmers will receive the land
through a newly-organized cooperative—Panaghiusa sa mga Mag-uumang
Nakigbisog alang sa Yuta sa Sumilao—which brings together members
of two farmers’ groups.
The initial beneficiaries of the 50 hectares
covered by the deed of donation will be 19 farmers. The next batch
will be screened upon their return to Bukidnon.
The battle began in 1990 when the
Agrarian-Reform department issued a notice of coverage over the
property, or the Quisumbing estate.
Sumilao farmer-leader Rene Peñas said the
signing of the agreement is a “significant breakthrough” for
them. According to him, they have been victims of injustice for more
than 12 years.
“We have suffered all sorts of injustices in
our claim (to) the land. We had chosen non-violent action to press
for our legal claim and rights under the law,” Peñas added.
Ten years ago, or during the Ramos
administration, the farmers went on a hunger strike that
lasted almost a month. The strike resulted in a “win-win
formula” proposed by then President Fidel Ramos. The farmers,
however, lost the land when the Supreme Court, in 1997, decided
against them on the basis of a technicality.
“We hope this agreement (with San Miguel
Corp.) will finally give us peaceful possession and cultivation of
our land,” Peñas said. The food-and-beverage giant had
bought the estate from the Quisumbings and converted it into a
livestock farm.
Arlene Bag-ao, lawyer for the Sumilao farmers,
said the agreement was a tribute to the “persevering spirit” of
the farmers.
“They have faced all kinds of odds in their
quest to reclaim the land, they have confronted a system that is
stacked against them but they didn’t give up and continued to
struggle for what is justly theirs, even if it meant making big
sacrifices,” Bag-ao added.
The farmers will be flying home today to Cagayan
de Oro City, Misamis Oriental province. Next stop for them will be
Sumilao.
For the first time in 12 years, they said they
will be able to step on the land that they can now call their own.
The farmers added that they expect Bukidnon Bishop Honesto
Pacana and Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma to celebrate
Mass there. Pacana and Ledesma are known supporters of their cause.
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