Philippines: Sumilao farmers wary of Pangandamanan’s pronouncements

Farmers who are asking the government to distribute the 144-hectare former Quisumbing property in Sumilao, Bukidnon have expressed fear that Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Secretary Nasser Pangandaman might be out to make decisions that would grossly disappoint them.

“ We smell betrayal,” Napoleon Merida Jr., chairman of San Vicente Landless Farmers Association (SALFA), said in reaction to statements made by Pangandaman following his visit to the contested property last Tuesday.

In a press conference Wednesday, Pangandanman said there were several unassailable facts that would guide him in deciding on the farmers demand to issue a cease-and-desist order against the construction of a hog farm on the property by San Miguel Foods Inc. (SMFI), which bought the property from Norberto Quisumbing in 2002.

He said that the conversion order issued by Malacanang in 1994 and upheld by the Supreme Court in 1999 still stands, and that the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL) does not state that a new owner of a disputed property was bound by the conversion pledges made by the previous owner.

Pangandaman also said that the five-year period in which the landowner should have implemented the development plan as required by the conversion order started only in 2004 upon issuance of a development permit by the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB).

Pangandaman also noted that the sale of the property to SMFI was above board.

Merida said Pangandaman sounded more like a public relations man for SMFI than a cabinet secretary. “We can see through his words that he is more on the side of SMFI than of the farmers,” he said.

Marlon Manuel, a lawyer of the farmers, said,” Pangandaman seemed to be cooking up arguments to avoid issuing a cease-and-desist order against SMFI and placing the property under CARP.”

Manuel added: The facts of the case are plain and simple. The land was awarded to the farmers through issuance of certificates of land ownership award (CLOAs). Quisumbing applied for conversion and proposed a five-year development plan. Malacanang approved the conversion based on the proposed plan. The farmers protested, but the Supreme Court upheld the order, and the CLOAs of the farmers were cancelled. Quisumbing did not implement the development plan, thus violating the terms of the conversion order. The conversion period had lapsed. He sold the land to SMFI. That sale was illegal. The land should be covered anew under CARP and redistributed to the farmers.

He said Pangandaman was obviously distorting facts when he said that the conversion period started with the issuance by HLURB of a development permit.

“The HLURB permit was issued to SMFI for construction of the hog farm. It has nothing to do with the conversion. Why did former landowner Quisumbing not apply for a development permit during the five years of conversion period? The answer should be obvious to Pangandaman. Quisumbing performed a hoax. He did not intend to develop the land,” Manuel said.

Manuel also belittled Pangandamanân’s claim that the sale of land was above board and expressed doubt whether a sale really took place between Quisumbing and SMFI.

We have not seen a copy of the deed of sale. We have been asking for a copy and they’re not providing it. Instead, they seem to be hiding it, Manuel said.

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