BMFI

Jan. 17 update:
Sumilao farmers return to Manila

Exactly one month to the day of their meeting with the President that led to the issuance of the revocation of the conversion order of the 144-hectare property in Sumilao, Bukidnon, the Sumilao farmers are back in Manila. This first  group of  twelve farmers is composed of those who participated in the hunger strike 10 years ago and those who participated in the 1,700-kilometer walk from Sumilao to Manila. Among them are Rene Peñas and Linda San-ahan, who participated in both protest actions.

Hilda San-ahan said that they have returned because they do not want to repeat what happened 10 years ago when they opted to trust the government to distribute to them the promised 100 hectares after their hunger strike and they lost the land instead. Rene Peñas said that after the issuance of the December 18 revocation order by the Office of the President, they have waited for government to proceed with the next steps. However, they have not seen any indication that the government is intent in fulfilling its promise of returning the 144-hectare land to them. Instead, he said, all that they have witnessed was the expansion of the construction of SMFI within the property and government did not lift a finger to stop them. "We watched painfully as SMFI continued to build their hog farm as if there was no revocation order. We asked the DAR and the Office of the President to stop the construction because it has been rendered illegal by the order but nothing happened. We can no longer take this sitting down We have been camping out of the DAR regional office since January 3 but nothing happened" Peñas said.

The farmers will be welcomed by Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales and NASSA chairperson and Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo. They will have a joint press conference at the Arsobispado de Manila in Intramuros at 2pm today.

The Sumilao farmers have been supported by the Church since the start of the 1,700-kilometer walk. During the 2-month walk they have found refuge in the chapels and churches along the way and have fed by bishops, priests, nuns and lay people of the different dioceses and parishes that they have passed through. Cardinal Rosales, who was once the Archbishop of Malaybalay, Bukidnon which has jurisdiction over Sumilao has shown his strong support for the Sumilao farmers and even asked them to deliver his letter to President Arroyo urging her to return the land to the Sumilao farmers.

Bishop Pabillo, who has been recently appointed as head of the CBCP's National Secretariat for Social Action was designated by Cardinal Rosales as the head of the Church Task Force on Sumilao. He recently visited the farmers' camp out in front of the DAR in Cagayan de Oro and met with the Sumilao farmers in their homes in Barangay San Vicente after a disappointing meeting with President Arroyo and DAR Sec. Nasser Pangandaman together with Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma.

Bishops Pabillo and Ledesma came out of the dialogue deeply disappointed because of the lack of commitment from the President to pursue the implementation of the revocation order and stopping the ongoing construction in the disputed property. Both bishops were also able to enter the 144-hectare property together with Bukidnon Governor Jose Zubiri last week. Despite the claim of SMFI that it is building a state-of-the-art facility in its paid ad last December 26, Bishop Pabillo said that what he saw inside the 144-hectare property was "a development   without a soul."

The bishops including Bishop Honesto Pacana of the Diocese of Malaybalay are vocal supporters of the Sumilao farmers. Bishop Pacana recently issued a pastoral letter addressed to the faithful of his diocese supporting the cause of the Sumilao farmers and calling it a moral one beyond the legalities. The bishops have time and again vouched for the legitimacy of the Sumilao farmers as agrarian reform beneficiaries against the accusations voiced out by SMFI in their paid ad questioning the right of the Sumilao farmers.

In their manifesto issued today, the Sumilao farmers said that the one month wait is wait too long. They have not seen any indication of the intent of the government to hasten the distribution of the land. They announced that they will begin their walk anew but this time not to the Malacañang but to the people. "The last time we walked from our homes to the halls of power in Malacañang to knock at the hearts and conscience of the powerful. It appears they will not use even an ounce of  their power to make good of their promise of returning us to our land. Today, we begin walking the opposite direction. We will walk to the homes of the people beginning with the young in theirs schools, then to the faithful in their Churches. We will knock at the hearts and conscience of the ordinary people as we continue to knock those of the powerful. We will walk on and on until our steps will lead us back to our homes to till the land that is rightly and justly ours" the manifesto said.

The Sumilao farmers are set to walk to the campuses of different schools first and then walk from one parish to another to address the people and get their support.