Manalagin. Manindigan. Makialam. Join us in support of the Sumilao Farmers, on December 17, 5:30 AM DAR office to Malacanang

I don’t really consider myself an activist.  I actually see myself as an apolitical person, may be indifferent even when it comes to politics, that’s why rallies to topple a government is not really my cup of tea.  However, rallying about human rights, supporting the less-fortunate, promoting the common good, I believe is a different matter.

The plight of the Sumilao Farmers of Bukidnon did not automatically catch my attention the first time I saw the awareness campaign in our school.  Hard to admit but I initially thought, this is just one of those rallies for human rights.  And before, I could not distinguish one rally from another.  I thought they were all politics.  But one idle morning, while waiting for my next class, I had the “time” to browse through the Sumilao board at school.  I thought, browsing over was enough, but as I read through and realized what they had been through, how they fought hard for their land, how that moment, they were en route to Manila from Bukidnon by foot (and this they were doing since September), I could not help but be moved.  Moved to support their plight.

Below this blog, I have attached the exact position paper which I read at school and which had also stirred me to get involved.  I believe that if I, a person who is so indifferent with social advocacy can be moved and stirred, truly, the Holy Spirit may have been the one moving me and stirring and disturbing  me to take part in this cause.

The whole Catholic Church is supporting the Sumilao Farmers plight.  Cardinal Rosales wrote the President a letter and this will be hand-delivered by the farmers on Monday to Mrs. Arroyo.  Mrs. Arroyo has already agreed to welcome and have a dialogue with the farmers on December 17, Monday.  The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has already issued a ceased and desist order on this issue, granting San Miguel Corporation the go-signal to proceed with their plan to convert the farmland into piggery.  The order was released yesterday.  And yet, this does not deter us, the farmers, their supporters to hope because we know that our hope is in CHRIST.

It is but timely that we are on advent time, a time to prepare the way of the Lord. And what better way, what better gift to offer Christ, who offered himself to us first, but the gift of upholding human dignity, human right, human good. I then appeal to you, should you read this blog on time, to join us in prayer procession to Malacanang on December 17, 2007 to show our support to our brothers of Sumilao.  Assembly will be in front of DAR office at 5:30 AM.  This will be a peaceful and prayerful walk to uphold what is good and what is right.  Should you be unable to walk with us, or should you read this several days after this date, I still invite you to continue praying for them, we wouldn’t know what could have turned out from this meeting but your prayers for them, for their future will certainly help them.  Their plight is not just their plight, but the plight of all victims of human rights.  With our prayers, let us storm the heavens to intervene.  SMC may be a big corporation, the Justice system may be a great wall to climb but I know my God is a big God. Siya lang ang ating sandigan.

Manalagin. Manindigan. Makialam.

Backgrounder of the Case of the Sumilao Farmers

The Sumilao farmers are the indigenous people (Lumads) of Sumilao Bukidnon. They were the early settlers of a piece of ancestral land in Sumilao, Bukidnon. A portion thereof, 243.885hectare area of the ancestral and served as the Seat of Government of the Higaonons where the traditional paghusay and pamuhat were conducted by the Higaonon tribal council lead by Apo Manuagay Anlicao and Apo Mangganiahon Anlicao. The ancestral land is a flat agricultural terrain situated in the midst of Mt. Sayawan and Mt. Palaopao, and where Mt. Kitanglad can be seen from afar. Then the Angeles came in 1930s forcibly evicting the Higaonons from their ancestral land and converted the land into a cattle ranch. Later, the land was transferred to the Ilagans. In 1970s, the ancestral land was divided between 2 landowners: 99.885 hectares to Salvador Carlos while the 144 hectares was transferred to Norberto Quisumbing. The ancestral land was eventually leased to Del Monte Philippines, Inc. (DMPI) for 10 years. At this time, the Higaonons became farmworkers of the land they once owned.

With the advent of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law in 1988, the 144 ancestral land was covered for distribution to 137 Mapadayonong Panaghiusa sa mga Lumad Alang sa Damlag (MAPALAD) farmers, all of Higaonon lineage. Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) was subsequently issued in their names making them the owners of the 144 ancestral land. For the first time in several years, the MAPALAD farmers regained their ancestral land. What followed next was a controversial legal battle which sparked national interest involving the sad state of agrarian reform in the country.

The Quisumbing family applied for conversion of the land from agricultural to agro-industrial before the DAR notwithstanding the fact that prime agricultural lands are non-negotiable for conversion. Quisumbing proudly proposed the establishment of a Development Academy of Mindanao, cultural center, Institute for Livelihood Science, museum, library, golf course, and Mindanao Sports Development Complex, Bukidnon Agro-Industrial Park, Forest Development and Support Facilities including the construction of a 360-room hotel, restaurant and housing projects, among others. Further, Quisumbing partnered with the LGUs of Sumilao and Province of Bukidnon where the latter illegally passed Resolution No. 24 and Resolution No. 94-95, respectively, allowing the conversion of the land despite the fact that LGUs have no power of conversion under the law as the same belongs to the DAR Secretary. The DAR Secretary denied the application because of its patent invalidity. On appeal to the Office of the President, Executive Secretary Ruben Torres issued the infamous Torres Resolution approving the application for conversion despite its illegality. Left of no more recourse, the MAPALAD farmers decided to do the only non-violent and peaceful means their forefathers taught them during unpeaceful times – a Hunger Strike. For 28 days, the MAPALAD farmers ate nothing but drank only water in front of the DAR Office in the cities of Quezon and Cagayan de Oro. Their peaceful protest caught the interest of the public: Cardinal Sin, including presidential wannabees Erap, Renato De Villa, and several senatoriables, LGUs and the House of Representatives. Due to huge public pressure, President Ramos issued the so-called “Win-win Resolution” wherein 100 hectares were to be given to the farmers while 44 hectares to Quisumbing. It was a pleasant victory for the MAPALAD farmers and the whole peasant sector. However, their victory was short-lived.

Quisumbing brought the same before the Supreme Court. MAPALAD, as farmer beneficiaries of the 144, intervened in the case and raised novel questions such as the validity of conversion of prime agricultural lands which are supposedly non-negotiable for conversion, the power of reclassification of LGUs vis-à-vis DAR’s authority to approve conversions, and the validity of the comprehensive agrarian reform law itself. Unexpectedly, the Supreme Court evaded the resolution of the substantial issues of the case and found one perfect excuse: reglementary periods. The Supreme Court refused to answer the constitutional issues and asserted that the DAR failed to question the Torres Resolution on time. The Supreme Court skirted merits and yielded to technicalities. The questionable Torres Resolution was reinstated while the “Win-win Resolution” was invalidated. Worst, it denied MAPALAD’s intervention by equivocally saying they were merely “recommendee farmer beneficiaries”, hence, have no real interest over the land. MAPALAD’s dream of regaining their ancestral land vanished in seconds. They lost to numbers.

Several years have passed since then yet the 144 hectare land remains idle. Not one of those proposed development projects and infrastructures by Quisumbing ever materialized. The “promises” of economic vitality, employment and increase in income, leaves much to be desired as everything was a “castle in the air”. Apparently, the Quisumbings have successfully fooled the MAPALAD farmers and the peasant sector, local government units, national government, Supreme Court, and the Filipino people in general, by such empty “promises” of development in order to circumvent the coverage of the 144 hectare ancestral land and evade the implementation of genuine agrarian reform in the country

As a non-violent way of protesting the more than 10 years of injustice they have gone through in trying to reclaim their ancestral land, 50 “lumad” farmers belonging to the Mapalad Multi-purpose Cooperative (MPC) will march on foot from their hometown of Sumilao, Bukidnon in the south to the capital city of Manila in the north from October 10 to December 10.

Statement in Support of the Sumilao Farmers

More than 10 years have passed since the first cry of help was made by the landless farmers of Barangay San Vicente, Sumilao, Bukidnon, but today, the rightful claim and possession of these Lumad-farmers over their land remain to be elusive. What is clear for the Sumilao farmers is that entities have claimed possession and control of their land through brute force, intimidation and the power of the purse. Since the decision of the SC in August 25, 1999 affirming the conversion became final and executory and up to the present, or for a period of more than 5 years, Norberto Quisumbing Sr. Management and Development Corporation failed to initiate or undertake any single development work in the area in violation of the conditions of the conversion order:

• Failure to develop within 1 year period from the issuance of conversion order
• Failure to complete development work within 5 years Failure to submit request for extension to develop within 6 months before the lapse of the 5 year period

San Miguel Foods Incorporated, as mere successor in interest, is bound by the Torres Order in accordance to AO 1, Series of 1990 which states:

• Sec 33.9. Conditions of Conversion Order. -  The landowner and future landowner(s) of the property approved for conversion shall not change its use to another use not authorized under the Conversion Order without prior consent from the DAR
• Sec 34. Effects of Approval of Conversion. – (34.1) It shall be limited to the specific use of the land authorized in the Conversion Order. (34.3) The conditions thereof shall be binding upon successors-in-interest of the property San Miguel Foods Incorporated and Monterey’s plan to put up a piggery is contrary to original plan and violates DAR AO 1, Series of 2002 and Comprehensive Rules on Land Use Conversion

We can present the legal contentions of these farmers and we can refute the arguments of the other claimants, yet one painful reality is that the Sumilao farmers remain to be “outsiders in their own land”. They continue to be poor and hungry, craving to be tillers of the land they should call their own but are unfairly and unreasonably restrained from doing so, robbed of their very God-given land source of their very future, all in the disguise of so called progress. We urge everyone to rise to the defense of the common good, which states that “we are called to cultivate an awareness of and sensitivity to the needs of others. The absence of concern for the common good is a sure sign of a society in need of help” (Catholic Social Teaching). Many times we have fallen prey to our insatiable hunger for wanting what we do not have, while these brothers and sisters of ours are simply fighting for what was once theirs but was taken from them. We refuse to remain silent when the future and dignity of our people are threatened by enterprising individuals who have forgotten what is their and what is not, individuals who have forgotten what it means to be human, to be divine.

We call upon the President and the legislators to address this matter, and we beg you to act now. A strong republic and the claim that our country possesses a robust economy will remain a farce unless the disadvantaged and marginalized sectors of our society are not able to possess and enjoy their just and equitable share. We extend our full support to the Sumilao farmers, and call upon all people of goodwill to do the same. The march ahead may be long and hard, but our faith is in the law, reason and our God

Manalagin. Manindigan. Makialam SIMBAHANG LINGKOD NG BAYAN, ATENEO BUSINESS RESOURCE FOUNDATION INC.,ATENEO OFFICE OF SOCIAL CONCERN AND INVOLVEMENT, ATENEO PEACE INSTITUTE, ATENEO SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT, CHRISTIAN LIFE COMMUNITY PHILIPPINES, SENTRO NG ALTERNATIBONG LINGAP PANLIGAL (SALIGAN), KAISAHAN, BALAWUD-MINDANAW,

Supported by the student councils from Assumption College, Ateneo de Manila University, De la Salle University, Don Bosco College, Miriam College, San Beda College, San Sebastian College, St. Scholastica’s College, University of Santo Tomas

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