TFM Bukidnon farmers march for land rights

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The torrential rains did not stop the 100 Bukidnon farmers belonging to Task Force Mapalad, a national federation of landless farmers, to camp inside the compound of Agrarian Reform Regional Office in barangay Macanhan here since Wednesday.

And they would continue to stake out until their demands would be granted by the Agrarian Reform office in Northern Mindanao .

The farmers braved the rains and had a sleepless night on Wednesday and vowed they would never disperse their camp-out until their demands are met.

A commotion took place after the security guards forcibly drove out the farmers on Wednesday night.

However, the farmers stood their guard and never budged despite the threat to shoot at them.

“The guards said they would shoot us if we don’t get out of the DAR’s premises but we told them that we are not afraid since we have already staked our lives when we started our struggle to claim our lands,” Luz Cometa, spokesperson of the protesting farmers, lamented.

These farmers are waging their long and arduous battle against six vast landholdings in Bukidnon province which are liable to distribute lands to their farmer beneficiaries.

Powerful and influential families owned these vast landholdings in Bukidnon like former Bukidnon governor Carlos Fortich, Luis Guingona, the brother of the former Vice-president Teofisto Guingona, Sebastian, Valero and Ocaya.

The government’s 19 year-old agrarian reform law has not yet achieved the genuine land reform in the country.

“The Agrarian Reform office has not done anything to the long overdue yet failed ocular inspection for the valuation of the three Fortich landholdings in barangays Lorugan, Colonia and Mailag in Valencia City ,” Cometa said.

Farmers belonging to other haciendas in Bukidnon who are also waging their struggle to own the land due them also joined in the mounting protest and camp-out to press the Agrarian Reform Office to act on their pending petitions for these various landholdings.

Constantino Sales, president of the Fortich Farm petitioners and a farmer leader of TFM, said that Northern Mindanao Agrarian Reform Director John Maruhom failed to fulfill his promise and the plans made during the farmers camp-out in February.

“The farmers are afraid that DAR is not seriously performing their tasks and its continued reluctance to perform their mandate to accomplish what they are supposed to do,” Sales said.

The farmers arrived at the Agrarian Reform office on Wednesday morning and held out placards bearing the following demands – for the said office to proceed the coverage of Fortich Farms despite the landowner’s protest, to relocate the Central Mindanao University farmers, to extend the implementation period of the comprehensive agrarian reform program after its term ends on June 2008, to install all agrarian reform beneficiaries with CLOAs like the Hacienda Cuenca of Velez Malaga in Negros Occidental and ARCAL Estate of Magdug, Gov. Generoso of Davao Oriental and justice to the harassments and right violations of landowners against these farmer beneficiaries.

While the farmers were on picket on Wednesday afternoon, Director Maruhom together with the provincial agrarian reform officer and his legal officers met the 10 leader farmers to discuss their demands.

Sales disclosed that Maruhom and his staff admitted their weaknesses and reluctance over the land issues in Bukidnon and even expressed their sympathy over the killing of the two farmers in Hacienda Velez Malaga in Negros Occidental on Tuesday.

DEADLOCK

However, the conference ended into a deadlock considering the farmers did not agree on Maruhom’s decision to wait for the resolution on the landowner’s petition protesting the 300 hectare land claims of the farmers.

The farmers would want the ocular inspection to be conducted within the week as against DAR’s July 9 schedule.

“During the conference, Director Maruhom gave us the hand to strategize the next ocular inspection after the resolution of the protest that the Fortiches filed would come out but we did not agree considering that waiting for that resolution takes time,” Sales said.

Sales cited that the Agrarian Reform Law does not prohibit the ocular inspection despite the landowner’s protest.

The Agrarian Reform conducted an ocular inspection at Fortich Farms on March 13 but the landowners did not allow the presence of the police. And on the next day, the ocular inspection and the land segregation survey did not prosper after the Fortiches barred the team.

“Why would Director Maruhom be afraid of the Fortiches? He kept on telling us that he is afraid he would be sued by the landowner and that he wants to avoid unnecessary actions, he does not seem to trust the Law,” Cometa said.

Cometa allayed fears that Maruhom’s reluctance and fear would just result to a more prolonged farmers struggle and might eventually might end up in violence.

“We don’t want this to happen but if we are pushed to the walls, what can we do,” Cometa sighed.#