Negros Farmers March In Manila

MAKATI, Philippines - Farmers from Negros Occidental, backed by peasant federation Task Force Mapalad, picketed the office of the Land Bank of the Philippines in Makati City to press for immediate valuation of the 157-hectare Hacienda Bacan owned by the family of President Gloria Arroyo's husband.

“It has been one month and a half now since DAR and Land Bank conducted a survey of Hacienda Bacan, and we were promised that valuation of the property would immediately follow after the survey. Nothing has happened yet,” said TFM spokesperson Edna Sobrecaray.

Issuance of property valuation by the Land Bank is the last step prior to issuance by the Department of Agrarian Reform of the certificates of landownership award (CLOAs) to farmer-beneficiaries.

Sobrecaray denounced Rivulet Agro-Industrial Corporation, the declared owner of Hacienda Bacan, for reneging at the last minute on its voluntary sale of the property to the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program and for sending its lawyer to intervene against the valuation.
Rivulet Corporation, owned by the family of Mike Arroyo, is managed by his brother Rep. Ignacio Arroyo.

“We were surprised to learn that Rivulet’s lawyer, Mr. Ruy Alberto Rondain, had written the Land Bank last June 2 asking it to suspend the valuation process purportedly because they have an application for land conversion pending before DAR,” said Sobrecaray.

Sobrecaray also denounced Land Bank for delaying the valuation. “It was supposed to have come out with the valuation in early May, after the survey of the hacienda at the end of April. There had been an agreement to fast track the valuation process because the farmers were anxious that CARP might end without the land being distributed,” she said.

President Arroyo had earlier ordered the distribution of Hacienda Bacan, located in the village of Guintubhan, Isabela, following a call by the Catholic bishops for distribution of Arroyo lands.
Her brother-in-law, Ignacio Arroyo had also said the plan to convert the property had been scrapped and that the hacienda could still be covered under CARP.

Sobrecaray said the case of Hacienda Bacan clearly shows that the Arroyo’s continue to evade CARP and to pursue conversion of the property for ethanol production.

“From what we can see, the Arroyos never meant to let go of the hacienda, but they were forced by public pressure and opinion to issue promises to distribute it. Behind the scene, they used their influence to delay the valuation, so that when CARP expires, as it did last Tuesday, they will have reason to proceed with conversion. The Arroyos are sly foxes. They keep on fooling everybody,” she said.

Sobrecaray said that if President Arroyo is serious about her call for a moratorium on land conversion, and if she was sincere about her order for distribution of Hacienda Bacan, she should ask her family to let go of the hacienda.

She added, however, that the farmers will not rely on the words and promises of the President.
“They will rely on their own determined efforts to fight for their right to land. With help from civil society and other sectors, they can hopefully win this fight,” she said. (Lani Factor)