"Ibang ANGGULO;" SUMILAO Land Issue

Maliban sa Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), mukhang may kagagawan din ang sabwatang Danding Cojuangco, GMA at Local Governments!

Hindi lang ang “Panginoong Maylupang” si Quisumbing at DAR ang litaw sa Sumilao Land issue. Komplikado na, involved at pasok ang sabwatang Danding Cojuangco, ang pinasok na puhunang P2.4 bilyong Monterey Food Corp/MFC-San Miguel Corporation (the Philippines' largest food, beverage, and packaging conglomerate), at ang Office of the President o si Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. (Larawan: http://taroogs.wordpress.com/2007/12/12/sumilao-farmers-or-san-miguel-corparation-kanino-kayo/)

Kung hindi tayo namamali, may papel at sangkot din (political players) ang LOCAL POLITICS o ang local governance. Ang mga maimpluwensya at makapangyarihang mga “nahalal na Mayor, Governador, Congressman, ang papel ng mga ZUBIRIs' at ang 20,000 mamamayan ng Sumilao na mukhang hindi kombinsido sa pakikibakang agraryo ng mga aktibistang magsasaka sa lugar." Sila ang malamang na maging “sagka, babangga at kalaban ng maliit na grupong Higaonon na nakikibakang ariin at kontrolin ang daang hektarya sa SUMILAO."

Sa isyung ito, mukhang nagsasalubong na nga ang hugis, larawan ng uri ng lipunan hindi lamang sa Mindanao maging sa buong bansa. Mula sa lantay pyudalismo (isyu ng LUPA sa WALANG LUPA?) tungo sa hindi na maaawat na isyu ng Kapitalismo o ang lumalaking bilang ng MANGGAGAWANG BUKID sa kanayunan. Ang isyu ng LUPANG AGRARYO (sektor ng magsasaka), ang isyu ng EMPLOYMENT at sektor ng manggagawa (UNYUNISMO) sa kabilang banda kung saan ang ilang sektor sa kanayunan, partikular ang Indigenous People (IPs) ay panigurong madidislocate at mapag-iiwanan.

Hindi lamang sa probinsya ng Bukidnon o sa buong Mindanao (minahan) talamak o penomenom ang isyung ito, maging sa buong kapuluan, mula sa Cagayan Valley Ilocos Region sa Hilaga, Southern Tagalog at Bicol Region, Negros Occ, Samar at Panay sa Kabisayaan. Eto na nga ang pinangangambahan ng marami (ang debate sa hindi makasabay na SOCIAL MOVEMENTS), ang penetration ng GLOBAL CAPITAL (GLOBALIZATION) sa anyo ng Agro-Industrial Projects sa kanayunan at ang moda ng kaunlarang niyayakap ng kasalukuyang naghaharing elite sa Malakanyang.

Bagamat sinasabing kampi at sumisimpatya ang Simbahan (Jesuit) at NGO-PO community sa NAKAKAIYAK na isyu ng AGRARYO'T pyudalismo, ANG PRAKTIKAL NA TANONG NG MARAMI SA NGAYON, " KUNG sino ang makakapagDEVELOP ng lugar na mapapakinabangan ng komunidad, sino ang may PRUWEBANG (track record) makapagpapaunlad ng bukurin o ng kanayunan sa lugar, dayuhan man 'yan na mamumuhunan, lokal na Negosyante, grupo ng mga magsasaka't katutubo, simbahan o NGOs, kung sino ang makakapag-organisa ng lugar (teritoryal/multi- sectoral), sino ang makakapagpanalo ng Barangay Captain, Mayor at Kongresman sa lugar, sino ang may kontrol ng KONGRESO at Malakanyang, yun ang malungkot na realidad na malamang na makapag-decide sa labanan."

Doy Cinco / IPD
DEcember 17, 2007

Monday, December 17, 2007
Sumilao leaders support agro-industrial project
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/dec/17/yehey/prov/20071217pro1.html

The mayor expects signature campaign will substantiate the community’s approval

Sumilao, Bukidnon: Mayor Marie Anne Baula and local Higaonon leaders threw their support behind an agro-industrial project being built at a 144-hectare lot in Barangay San Vicente as they assailed a 55-member group of alleged farmers, already owners of a nearby 66-hectare Salvador Carlos Estate lot, who are laying claim to the bigger property.(Larawan sa itaas: "Klase ng Factory Farms o ang BABUYAN" ng Monterey)

The Mayor said, that as leaders and representatives of some 21,000 residents of Sumilao, they conveyed to government officials, including President Arroyo, that the project of San Miguel Foods Inc. will help the local economy and provide jobs for majority of the residents of the fourth-class municipality. (Larawan sa ibaba: www.sanmiguel.com.ph/product_per_category.asp...)

“Sumilao is the smallest munici­pality and also the poorest. We mayors are always being challenged not to depend too much on Internal Revenue Allocation for our revenues and add to our income. So this project is a blessing for us,” said Baula, adding that a signature campaign is already being undertaken to substantiate support for the project.

The initial real estate taxes paid for the P2.4-billion project, accord­ing to Baula, already be­nefited Sumilao as it were used to buy land and establish the Sumilao National High School Annex in San Vicente, where some 400 students are enrolled in, as the money was also used to pay the salaries of six teachers.

“It’s not only the revenue to the town but also the jobs and livelihood opportunities it will create for majority of residents of Sumilao. We have to think about the benefit of the majority and the future of the town,” continued Baula. She said the project also augurs well for the farmers as it will ensure better and guaranteed prices for produce like corn and cassava.

Baula said the project went through rigid consultations with the barangays, the municipal council, and the provincial board of Bukidnon. She also noted that the project is located within the agro-industrial zone under Sumilao’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan as the Local Government Code gives LGUs the authority to reclassify agricultural lands to non-agricultural uses, which the Supreme Court upheld in 1998.

Datu Nelson Holongan, 55, and San Vicente chieftain Ronquillo Ligmon, 74, said the claims of these people to be farmer-tillers of the 144-hectare lot and as being Higaonon were unfounded.
“Hindi po mga Higaonon ang karamihan diyan. Mayroon diyang mga Ilonggo at Cebuano at yung ilan na Higaonon ay ginagamit lang po nila [They are not all Higaonon, some are Ilonggo, others Cebuano, the few who are Higaonon agreed to be used],”said Holongan, who as datu of the Higaonan tribe in Sumilao, knows all those from his tribe in the area.

“Ako po ay lider ng 10 barangay ng Higaonon sa Sumilao at hindi po totoo ang sinasabi nilang sila ay katutubo [I am the leader of 10 Higaonon villages in Sumilao and it’s not true that they are all native Higaonon],” continued Holongan.

“Katabi ng lupa ko ang Quisumbing [estate] at hindi ko nakita kahit kailan na nagtrabaho ang mga iyan doon sa 55 years ko sa Sumilao. Hindi totoo yung sinasabi nila na sila ay itinakwil sa kanilang inararong lupa [My property is right beside the Quisumbing estate and I’ve never seen these farmers working in their land in the 55 years I’ve stayed in Sumilao. It’s not true what they claim that they were driven out of their land],” he said.

Holongan confirmed that the said farmers already own the 66-hectare lot at the Salvador Carlos Estate based on Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOA), so he is puzzled why the said individuals were claiming to be farmer-tillers of the land formerly owned by the Quisumbings.

Ligmon said he is disappointed that these people were disrupting the development of San Vicente.

“Hindi ko gusto ang ginagawa nila, nahihiya ako sa ginagawa nila. Sana ay wag nang manggulo yung mga nagsasabi na Sumilao farmers sila [I don’t like what they are doing, and I find it em­bar­rassing. I wish these people claiming to be Sumilao farmers would stop creating trouble],” Ligmon said.

In 1997, the Department of Agrarian Reform issued certificates of land ownership award (CLOAs) to 137 farmers. The grant was contested by landowner Norberto Quisumbing’s application for conversion of the land from agricultural to agro-industrial, in an attempt to evade the land’s redistribution.