SHORT-LIVED VICTORY Members of the Madaum Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association Inc. celebrate when they reclaimed their land last month after years of a bitter conflict with a giant agricultural firm in Tagum City. On New Year鈥檚 Eve, they were driven away from their banana farm. 鈥擪ARLOS MANLUPIG
TAGUM CITY鈥擣or farmer leader Antonio Tuyak, the New Year brought cries of indignation and a sense of betrayal.
This as he and more than 150 farmers were once again driven out of a disputed property in Madaum village on New Year鈥檚 Eve, just weeks after the government intervened and allowed him and other agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) to till their land following six years of a bitter dispute with Lapanday Foods Corp. (LFC).
鈥淲e felt betrayed. We could not celebrate the New Year after what happened,鈥� Tuyak said.
An estimated 50 armed guards, believed to be from LFC, broke into the 鈥渒ampuhan鈥澛� (camp-in) of the Madaum Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association Inc. (Marbai) around 3 a.m. on Saturday and forced out ARBs who had staked their claim on a 145-hectare land.
鈥淲e were roused from sleep by armed LFC guards and evicted from our land at gunpoint,鈥澛� Tuyak told the Inquirer by telephone on Saturday.
鈥淪ome of the ARBs, which included old women, were tied up and their wallets, cellular phones and personal belongings taken,鈥� he said.
Tuyak said Saturday鈥檚 incident was an 鈥渦tter disrespect鈥� for the order by the national government allowing them to return to their lands. 鈥淚t was useless. Lapanday does not follow it,鈥� he said, referring to the cease and desist order (CDO) implemented on Dec. 18 by the Department of Agrarian Reform, preventing LFC and its security guards from interfering with the farmers鈥� activities within the latter鈥檚 claim.
Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano issued the CDO on Dec. 13 as tension between the 159 claimant-ARBs and LFC escalated, culminating in shooting incidents that wounded at least 10 farmers and their supporters. LFC had denied involvement in these attacks.
The ARBs have been staging their kampuhan outside the farm gates in Madaum village since June.
鈥淟FC guards now occupy our land while we, the owners, are back outside the plantation鈥檚 main gate. We鈥檙e disappointed and felt betrayed. The police and the local government have not done enough,鈥� Tuyak said.
Mayor Allan Rellon said he has ordered Supt. Laudemer Laude, city police chief, to send a team of policemen to provide security in the vicinity after he received reports about the alleged intrusion of LFC guards.
鈥淚 ordered Superintendent Laude to ensure that no untoward incident would happen there. If LFC guards indeed entered the farmers鈥� area, there鈥檚 really a violation,鈥� Rellon said.
Adelaido Caminade, a sheriff for the DAR Southern Mindanao and one of the officials who oversaw the CDO implementation, had admitted the order was a 鈥渢emporary relief鈥� as legal questions surrounding the landholding remain unresolved.
The Inquirer tried but failed to reach LFC representatives on Sunday for a statement on the latest incident. But the firm, in an earlier statement, said the DAR had 鈥渋llegally confiscated鈥� the disputed land, where it has been growing bananas, when it awarded the land to a group of ARBs.
The company also threatened to sue after the DAR reinstalled the Marbai members on the Madaum property.
鈥淚n giving the land and the improvements to Marbai, the DAR resorted to the illegal confiscation of (the) property. This act directly violates due process under the Constitution,鈥� LFC said in the statement.
The company said DAR鈥檚 action violated the contract between the company and the Hijo Employees Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Cooperative, one of the groups of ARBs in the contested area.
LFC, a company owned by the family of former Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr., said Marbai members were not only 鈥渋llegally occupying鈥� the disputed area but were stealing bananas being grown for LFC. 鈥擣RINSTON LIM