BMFI

DAY 8 (Oct. 17) UPDATE
Not One Less
By Kaka / Normie

17 October 2007, the support groups negotiated three municipalities in the Province of Misamis Oriental – of Magsaysay, Carmen and Nasipit. For a total of 30 kilometers, the Sumilao Farmers under the heat of the sun managed to finish today's course in 15 hours.

Before and after the farmers' everyday walk, they are now used to basic daily routines. Before and after the long day walk, it has been the usual practice to wake up at 3 a.m., do their stretching, orientation and cup of coffee. They will settle in a place where they can have some rest, eat their breakfast, morning snacks, lunch, afternoon snacks and dinner. Stretching is done in the morning and upon arrival in their everyday destinations for the purposes of warming up and cooling down. With this, the farmers have an instant, whole day and with-a-cause gym schedules sans workout paraphernalia and other equipments.

They head off at 4:30 a.m. and reached Brgy. Pagkataong for their breakfast at 7 a.m. Boiled egg, hotdog, dried fish and rice filled their stomach. Right after breakfast with a very little rest intended to digest the food, they again continued their journey. By noon, they reached Brgy. Poblacion of the municipality of Carmen and had their community lunch with humba and inun-on na isda.

The farmers were and still are very angry with the department who is supposed to be the prime mover in the protection and promotion of the farmers' rights – the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). But it is important to note, that there are still personnel within the department who are true to their statutory mandate – to properly implement the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL) – and to serve first and foremost the farmers, especially the small farmers who are landless. Some of those are in Butuan. The Provincial Agrarian Reform Office in Butuan spared some of their time to meet the farmers and prepared simple snacks. PARO Andrei and his assistant Rudy visited the farmers and had a conversation with them.

When they arrived in Nasipit, the community Parish of the municipality warmly welcomed the farmers and served dinner. At 8 p.m., they were all set and ready for a long night rest.

The Sumilao farmers did not conduct any special program for the day. They decided to check everyone as to their physical, psychological and emotional feelings. The leaders went to their subgroups and made sure that their teams are still physically, psychologically and emotionally capable to go on with the walk.

Inspired by the classic Chinese film “Not One Less,” to this date, from the 54 farmers who decided to leave their farms and families in Sumilao, Bukidnon last 10 October 2007, now, their number is still the same. Aside from the 54 Sumilao farmers, there are groups and individuals who, from the start and until now, are with the farmers, some of them have been marching for eight consecutive days and some are working behind scenes. They are those from PAKISAMA (which from the planning and start of the walk is part of the core support groups of this campaign), Balay Mindanaw Group (BALAOD Mindanaw, RCED, and BMFI), SALIGAN, KAISAHAN, SAC, and other support groups.

Nursing the 54 farmers

The Philippines is well known for producing world-class caregivers and nurses. Hundreds of thousands of these professionals are being sent to different parts of the world each year. In the journey of the Sumilao Farmers to Malacañang, from the start, there is one medical practitioner who decided to join the farmers, not only because she believes in the legitimacy of the cause of the walk and the illegitimacy of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's presidency, but also to serve the farmers using her medical expertise.

Dra. Grace Bag-ao, dentist by profession, but activist by heart, enough to justify her passion and compassion to stick with the farmers on their everyday walk.

It is but a tough job to look and ensure the physical situation of the 54 farmers having two hands. For eight days, she has been constantly and regularly monitoring the health of the marchers. Aside from the daily routine with the farmers, she also adopted her own habit. Everyday check up, blood pressure, ensure that the farmers are taking vitamins.

Cough, blisters, muscle clamps, headache, colds seemed normal ailments for the past eight days and perceived to continue for the next days. What was more difficult for DocG is when two or more farmers got sick. She had to attend to their personal needs simultaneously. Then the farmers realized the need to have paramedics to assist her. But since the paramedics are likewise marchers themselves, sometimes DocG is still alone caregiving the marchers.

For the past eight days of walk, so far, medicines for minor illness are enough to sustain the needs of the marchers. But what is lacking are medicines for highblood and other major ailments.

But more than practicing her medical know-how, DocG finds time to entertain the marchers to ease their boredom and to avoid being hard-headed through her jokes and other funny little things.

The legal battle is not abandoned

While the Sumilao Farmers are on their way to Malacañang, the lawyers from SALIGAN, KAISAHAN, BALAOD (PESANTEch Lawyers), and some other like-minded private law practitioners are likewise busy doing legal stuff for the farmers.

On this day, 17 October 2007, the Sumilao farmers filed a motion for reconsideration before the Office of the President as regards the office's decision dated 3 October 2007 in dismissing their appeal for lack of legal personality to file a petition for revocation/cancellation of the conversion order over the disputed land.

On the Sumilao farmers' motion for reconsideration, they discussed the following arguments:

1. The instant petition for revocation/cancellation is a new cause of action and different from the Supreme Court case of Fortich vs. Corona and the latter decision does not have a res judicata effect herein;
    
2. The Sumilao farmers are real parties in interest in the petition for cancellation and/or revocation of the conversion order. They are legal parties in interest not only based on the rules on conversion and administrative rules on agrarian implementation law but more importantly, the Sumilao farmers are the community residents and qualified agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) who are directly affected by the conversion. Furthermore, majority of herein farmers were previously granted the ownership of the 144-hectare land by virtue of the Certificate of Land Ownership Awards (CLOA) issued in their names;
    
3. The cancellation and/or revocation of the conversion order issued to respondent is proper, considering that respondents failed to comply with its conditions. The NQSRMDC and its successor-in-interest, SMFI, failed to initiate or undertake any single development work in the area within five years from the finality of the order for conversion, in violation of the conditions of the conversion order pursuant to the rules governing conversion. Further, the subsequent selling of the subject property by the respondent NQSRMDC to co-respondent San Miguel Foods, Inc. is another gross violation of the conditions of the approved conversion order. The respondent committed illegal and unauthorized conversion as provided by Sec. 73 of RA 6657 and rules on conversion. The SMFI changed the current use of the land without conversion order from DAR and the effect of the change is to exempt the subject land from CARP coverage. The change of use is not the allowed use in the conversion order issued to NQSRMDC;
    
4. DAR abandoned its duty mandated by law when it dismissed the petition for cancellation/revocation of conversion order filed by the Sumilao farmers for lack of jurisdiction. The Office of the Agrarian Reform Secretary has the jurisdiction and expertise to decide the cancellation of the conversion order pursuant to RA 6657 and rules on Agrarian Law Implementation (ALI) and conversion; and
    
5. The Honorable Office of the President failed to observe procedural due process when it entertained the respondent's reply memorandum. The Respondents' Reply Memorandum was filed four months after the Sumilao farmers filed their Appeal Memorandum.

The Sumilao farmers on their Motion for Reconsideration are asking the Honorable Office of the President to immediately issue a Cease and Desist Order (CDO) enjoining the respondents San Miguel Foods, Inc. (SMFI) their agents, assignees and representatives, from undertaking any development in the subject property and ordering the respondents to maintain the present and actual status of the area as an agricultural land. The commission of any acts in relation to the development of the subject property of the respondent San Miguel Foods, Inc. (SMFI) during the litigation may render the case moot and academic and will not only absolutely work injustice to the petitioners but also constitutes a gross violation of agrarian reform program, unless immediately restrained by the issuance of a cease and desist order (CDO) pursuant to Section 20, DAR Administrative Order No. 3 series of 2003, 2003 Rules for Agrarian Reform Law Implementation Cases .

More importantly, the Sumilao farmers are praying before the Honorable Office of the President to reconsider its Decision dated 3 October 2007 and issue an order and/or decision:

1. Canceling/Revoking the Order of Conversion dated 29 March 1996 approving the conversion of the 144 hectares of land situated in San Vicente, Sumilao, Bukidnon;
    
2. Ordering the reversion of the subject property from agro-industrial use to agricultural land;
    
3. Ordering the DAR to subject the property to immediate CARP compulsory coverage;
    
4. Distributing the subject property to herein qualified petitioners;
    
5. Or in the alternative, remanding the case to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and directing the DAR to revoke the conversion order and immediately cover the land under CARP for distribution.