Batangas farmers land dispute resolved

THE Department of Agrarian Reform HDAR) said that the land dispute between farmers and hacienda owners in batangas has been settled with the agency acting as a mediator.

DAR Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Napoleon Galit, in a statement emailed to The Manila Times, said that the resolution of the dispute between farmers’ groups and Roxas and Co. Inc., covering Hacienda Palico, banilad and Caylaway, all in Nasugbu, Batangas, did not dispossess farmers of their land as they claimed.

He said that there was a consensus between both parties, on the withdrawal of all cases pending before the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals and the Office of the President.

“The two parties yielded to the exclusive jurisdiction and authority of the DAR in the matter,” Galit said.

Earlier, the Nasugbu farmers, represented by their lawyer, Mario bernardo Cerro, rejected DAR’s 63-page consolidated order saying this would cause their eviction from their Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program HCARP)-awarded lands.

With Cerro were Carlito Caisip, president of the Katipunan ng mga Magbubukid sa Hacienda Roxas Inc. HKamahari); and Lauro Martin, president of the Damayan ng Manggagawang bukid sa Asyenda Roxas-National Federation of Sugar Workers (Damba-NFSW) who filed an omnibus motion with motion for reconsideration on DAR’s order.

They claimed that some 50,000 farmers, mostly holders of certificate of land ownership award HCLOA) from the three disputed haciendas, stand to be affected by the order issued by Secretary Conrado Estrella 3rd.

but Galit refuted their claims saying the legitimate farmers’ groups had only an approximate membership of 1,300.

He said the high court’s 1999 decision under G.R. 1278761999 ruled in favor of Roxas and Co. Inc. that resulted in the invalidation of CLOA issued to the farmers.

“This led to the protracted litigation between the two parties, at the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, and the Office of the President, before the DAR stepped in as the mediator last year, in an honest effort to get the two parties to come to a mutually beneficial settlement,” the agency official explained.

As per the DAR order, the total land area of the three haciendas, to be divided equally among the farmers groups and landowners, amount to 1,322.23 hectares each.

The members of the farmers’ groups will undergo validation process and the issuance of CLOA shall follow, Galit said.

As to their claim that they were deceived by their previous counsel, Nenita Mahinay, who allegedly did not inform the farmers’ groups of the consolidated order and the period for the filing of an appeal or motion for reconsideration, Galit advised the farmers to explore the legal remedies available to them.

He reiterated that DAR acted in the best interest of the legitimate farmers groups in resolving the contentious issues between the parties and that the decision took into account the principle of equal protection under the law as guaranteed in the Constitution.

The farmers vowed to go after their former lawyer who allegedly committed fraud and deception, Cerro said.