BMFI

Dec. 27 update:
What is the price of Justice? Sumilao farmers ask

SUMILAO, Bukidnon -- After a brief respite after arriving home for the Christmas holidays, the Sumilao farmers were once again roused to the heat of the controversy over the Sumilao lands by the full-page ad placed by San Miguel Foods Inc. (SMFI) in the major national newspapers. The full-page advertisement enumerated the benefits that the operations of SMFI will offer to the province of Bukidnon and its people while questioning the legal standing of the Sumilao farmers over the disputed land.

Reacting to the full-page ad, Samuel Merida, President of Mapalad Multipurpose Cooperative said that the ad only made it clear that SMFI will spare no expense to boost its own claim and discredit the Sumilao farmers. "This is a battle between their money and our rights as indigenous people and as farmer beneficiaries. SMFI is showing signs of desperation after the Office of the President revoked the conversion order and reverted the 144-hectare land to agricultural classification and thus placing it under the coverage of the agrarian reform program" Merida said.

"The very point of our 1,700 kilometer walk was to make our rights of the land very compelling and difficult to ignore. We chose a very peaceful way of asserting our rights even if it meant a big sacrifice for us. We succeeded in gaining recognition of our rightful claim over the land and the injustices that we have endured over the last decade. For once, the public, the Church and even the Office of the President have seen our side and have recognized that the law is own our side. Now, through their expensive full-page ad SMFI is trying to paint a picture of itself as the savior of the farmers of Bukidnon and that we have no right over our land. What is the price of justice then? Is it worth P2.4B in investments? P50M in annual payroll for employees and workers SMFI claims it will benefit? Is justice worth P98M in terms of annual taxes?" asked Napoleon Merida Jr.

Atty. Kaka Bag-ao, legal counsel of the Sumilao farmers, said that she is amused at the seeming ignorance of SMFI of the agrarian reform laws when it claimed that the Sumilao farmers are not qualified CARP beneficiaries. "Their legal counsel, who is a former Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs of the DAR, should know otherwise. To know that farmers need not be tenants of the land in order to become agrarian reform beneficiaries is elementary" Bag-ao said. She also said that the Sumilao farmers do not hide the fact that 68 of the 165 families who are members of MAPALAD and SALFA have benefited from the adjacent 66-hectare Carlos estate. "The fact remains that even those have been beneficiaries of the Carlos estate only have a pittance – ranging from 0.4 to 0.9 hectares – from agrarian reform. The law defines a family size farm to be not more than 3 hectares. The fact also remains that nearly a hundred of the Sumilao farmers remain landless" Bag-ao said.

The Sumilao farmers are gearing to launch another push for the issuance of a cease and desist order from the Office of the President that will put a stop on the SMFI construction in the area that has been rendered illegal by the December 18 Order of the Office of the President. They shall also be pushing for the DAR to immediately issue a Notice of Coverage to SMFI to begin the implementation of the intent of the OP order to place the 144-hectare property under agrarian reform.