Marching Sumilao Farmers Say DAR Secretary Has Jurisdiction to Cover Land Under CARP

Farmers on their 34rd day of their Walk for Land

Casiguran, Sorsogon – Weary but resolute as they enter their second month of marching from Bukidnon to Manila , the Sumilao farmers assert that Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman has the power and jurisdiction to cover the 144-hectare agricultural land under CARP despite a pending case at the Office of the President.

In a radio interview last 08 November, Pangandaman said he could not help the marching farmers claim the contested property now since the case is no longer under his jurisdiction. Further, he stated that it was also the Office of the President which in 1998 reversed the DAR ruling favourable to the Sumilao farmers and approved the land conversion through the Torres Resolution. However, Sumilao farmers state that under Section 50 of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, RA 6657, DAR has the “exclusive original jurisdiction over all matters involving agrarian reform.” “This proviso includes the controversial issues of land conversion,” Peter Tuminhay, spokesperson of the Sumilao Farmers, says. “Secretary Pangandaman has the best excuse, that the case is now pending in the Office of the President and therefore, he’s telling us we should just wait,” Tuminhay continues.

“The DAR is duty-bound to issue a Notice of Coverage (NOC) on all agricultural lands in excess of the five-hectare limit. The 144-hectare Sumilao property should be immediately covered under CARP as the land remains agricultural and it has not been effectively converted into an agro-industrial property,” Atty. Jan Eugenio, legal counsel for the Sumilao farmers explained. Eugenio also stated that the pending petition before the Office of the President does not prevent the DAR Secretary from issuing a Notice of Coverage of the property under CARP.

The Sumilao farmers have filed a petition to revoke the conversion order of the said land on November 2004 with the failure of Quisumbing to act on the agro-industrial development plan it proposed on the 144-hectare estate within five years as required by law. Another violation is the transfer of the estate to San Miguel Foods, Inc. (SMFI) in 2002, the latter now preparing to set up a hog farm in the area, again contrary to the approved conversion.

The DAR dismissed the petition last October 27, 2006 allegedly because the conversion order was, in effect, issued by the Office of the President and not the Department. The farmers and their counsel have thus brought the case (Petition for Cancellation of the Conversion Order) to the Office of the President on January 23, 2007. They are appealing that the President revokes the Conversion Order in their favour.

The Sumilao farmers insist that because five years have lapsed since 1996—when Torres approved former landowner Norberto Quisumbings plans to put up a school, a gold course, hotel and agro-industrial facilities in the contested land- then the DAR should automatically cover the land under CARP. The property is now owned by the conglomerate San Miguel Foods, Inc. which is now planning to put up a hog farm through its subsidiary Monterey Foods, Inc. “That property is a prime agricultural land with irrigation facilities, and should therefore be reverted back to its original classification,” Eugenio stated.

“The real issue here is the political will of this government to implement genuine agrarian reform. We dare Secretary Pangandaman, our brother from Mindanao, to put an end to this lingering arduous issue, and give us hope for a better future for our children,” Tuminhay retorted. Tuminhay says this is the best time for DAR to make up for its failure in 1998 to block former landowner Norberto Quisumbing’s petition questioning Ramos’s win-win resolution. DAR at that time failed to submit pertinent legal answers to the Supreme Court within the reglementary period of 15 days, such failure leading to another failed bid of the Sumilao farmers to claim their ancestral land. “Again, it was not our fault that we lost in that Supreme Court battle, but DAR’s irresponsibility and the Supreme Court’s narrow-mindedness when it set aside substantial issues and yielded to technicalities,” Tuminhay said.

Fifty-five Sumilao farmers went on a two-month journey on foot starting October 10, urging DAR and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to revoke the conversion order of the 144-hectare Quisumbing estate in Sumilao, Bukidnon originally awarded to them under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in 1995. The farmers already went on a historic 28-day hunger strike to stop the conversion of the same piece of land in 1997 from agricultural to agro-industrial use.

The Sumilao marchers are now heading towards Sorsogon City, finishing some 833 kilometers of walk from Mindanao to Visayas. This is their second day of their Luzon sojourn and are yet to pass through the provinces of Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Quezon, Laguna before they enter Metro Manila onward to the DAR office and Malacanang. They are expected to arrive in Metro Manila on the first week of December. The marchers are requesting for prayers for a safe and successful journey to Malacanang.

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