Ducky Paredes

“The story that has been told by media has been the story of these poor farmers being oppressed by a rich and entrenched family. This is simply not true.”

by Ducky Paredes

On the surface, it looks like the Mapalad farmers are at it again. They are again on a march from Bukidnon to Manila masquerading as poor, downtrodden farmers who are up against an entrenched oligarchic family that has taken the farmers’ ancestral lands for themselves.

These farmers have been “fighting for their rights” for almost a decade and they have not gotten “the justice that they deserve.” That is what it looks like on the surface. Nut that is not the whole story.

The land in question is 144 hectares in Sumilao, Bukidnon that was owned by the Quisumbing family. The farmers claim that the land has always been theirs and that these 144 hectares were given to them under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program or the CARP.

The story that has been told by media has been the story of these poor farmers being oppressed by a rich and entrenched family. This is simply not true.  According to the story, this is a case of a Goliath against a lot of little Davids where the little people are the aggrieved parties and the Quisumbings are the land-grabbers and interlopers.

This is, however, the farthest thing from the truth. The Quisumbings own that land — fairly and squarely. In fact, the Quisumbings have always owned that land.

The Mapalad farmers claim they have been forced to live outside of their ancestral land, barred from cultivating their rightful land by electric fences and guns “depriving them of livelihood, culture and, most of all, dignity.”

What they want is access to the land resources and productivity development of the 144 hectares owned by the Quisumbing family. If they are allowed to cultivate what they claim is their own land, the farmers say that they hope to be able to answer their families’ food, health, education and shelter needs.

The only thing true about this is that these farmers are poor; they are, however, not landless at all. Worse, they actually have no legitimate claim to the 144 hectares!

These same farmers are in fact beneficiaries under the CARP law of 65 hectares, which was the property of the Salvador Carlos Estate, which is adjacent to the contested Sumilao property of the Quisumbings in Bukidnon. The Salvador Carlos Estate fell under the Carp Law and the Quisumbing property did not. It is as simple as that.

Official documents consisting of Certificates of Land Ownership Awards(CLOA) shows that the present chairperson of the MAPALAD (Mapadayonong Panaghiusa sa mga Lumad Alang sa Damlag) as well as the head of the SALFA (San Vicente Landless Farmers Association), both of which organizations actively represent and support the marching Sumilao farmers, are listed as co-owners of the 65-hectare plot.

So what is this all about? Why are they looking at the Quisumbing property to be given to them when the Quisumbing property was never even covered by the CARP law? Why do they insist on getting land that is not qualified to be under the CARP and which is held by private owners?

Why are they again bringing this case to the media and the public when the Supreme Court has already ruled that the land is owned by the Quisumbings and is not covered by the CARP?

Both the SC and the Office of the President have ruled that the property does not fall under the CARP Law and that the title to the 144 hectares of the Quisumbing family is genuine and legal.

Under these circumstances, why are they still protesting and why is media even giving them any attention at all? If we cannot be a nation of laws, how can we call ourselves a country? If these farmers cannot accept what is legal, how can they expect the law to work for them?

Our laws protect fundamental social, political and economic rights of every citizen; but when farmers, covetous of others’ lands, cannot accept the fact that these laws that work for them will also work for others who also have their own rights, how can they expect the rest of the citizenry to support their march to be a legitimate protest against the injustices of the system. There is no injustice that has been suffered by these farmers. It is they who have been unjust to the legal owners of the 144 hectares that they want for themselves, contrary to law!

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I tend to believe retired General Jaime de loss Santos over lawyer Raul Lambino, an aide of Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. when the general says:

 “I cannot understand why the Senate committees are paying heed to the testimonies of Lambino and Joey, when they are just spinning tall tales and telling blatant lies.   I have already vehemently denied their claim that I have implicated Secretary Leandro Mendoza and Land Transportation Office Director Reynaldo Berroya to an alleged assassination plot targeting Joey.”

The retired general stressed, “I have nothing to do with the NBN case, and I resent my name being dragged into it.   I appeal to Lambino and Joey to stop this nonsense.”

The way that the retired general tells it, Joey informed him that Joey was going to the police to report that there were threats to his life.

“So I said that it is your right and prerogative as a citizen,” De los Santos said. “All this came from their mouths that is why I am surprised after learning that they claim that I was the one who informed them (about the alleged plot).”

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hvp (11.22.07)

Readers who missed a column can access www.duckyparedes.com/blogs. This is updated daily. Your reactions are welcome at duckyparedes@yahoo.com