A Global Campaign for Agrarian Reform for the Sumilao Farmers flagged as a case for Urgent Action by the FIAN. Beginning of Action: 30-11-2007 - End of Action: 30-01-2008

A very important development in the Philippines right now is the case of the 165 farmers from Sumilao, Bukidnon who have been struggling for the right to their land for the past 10 years. In 1990, 144 hectares of land belonging to a landlord, Norberto Quisumbing, was placed under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), the country’s national agrarian reform program. Thus, 165 farmers were identified as farmer beneficiaries and were awarded a Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in 1995. However, the land was never distributed to them, despite the fact that they were the legitimate owners. However, after the farmers received the CLOA, Mr. Quisumbing, the original landowner, applied to convert the 144 hectare land from agricultural to agro-industrial to establish the Bukidnon Agro-industrial Development Area (BAIDA). This, despite the fact that prime agricultural lands are non-negotiable for conversion. While the conversion application was originally denied by the DAR Central Office, it was later approved by the Office of the President, Executive Secretary Ruben Torres, despite its illegality.

The farmers occupied the said landholding and began cultivating. The landowner retaliated by sending armed guards who harassed the farmers and destroyed their huts. Left with no more recourse, the farmers decided to stage hunger strikes in front of the DAR Central Office in Manila, consuming nothing but water for 28 days. Due to huge public pressure, in 1999, then President Fidel Ramos issued a “win-win” solution wherein 100 hectares were to be given to the farmers and the rest to the landowner Norberto Quisumbing. However, Mr. Quisumbing brought the same before the Supreme Court and the court reinstated the earlier ruling in favour of the landowner.

Three years after the court ruled in his favor, Mr. Quisumbing in 2002, sold 144 hectares of land to San Miguel Foods, Inc (SMFI), one of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines. SMFI has started putting up a hog farm, instead of an Industrial area, as indicated in the conversion agreement. Under the law, no changes may be made in the original declaration of use of the land. Since Mr. Quisumbing, upon applying for a reconversion of the land from agriculture to industrial, declared that the land shall be used for industrial purposes, SMFI’s construction of a hog farm is a clear violation of the conditions of the conversion order.

Hence, in 2004, the Sumilao farmers filed a petition for the cancellation of the conversion order against Quisumbing and /or SMFI before the DAR on citing that Mr. Quisumbing never initiated any development work on the land and that SMFI violated the conditions of the conversion order by changing completely its use from an industrial to hog farming. The case was then brought to the Office of the President and it is currently pending.

On October 10, 2007, after 3 years of non-action by the government, 55 Sumilao farmers and supporters began marching from Sumilao, Bukidon, a province in Mindanao, South of the Philippines all the way to Manila, covering a distance of 1,700 km, in the hope that the Department of Agrarian Reform and the Office of the President will resolve their case.

On December 5, the farmers ended their walk for land and justice and have since been camping in front of the office of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) awaiting the government’s decision on their case.

As of today, December 13, the government still has not acted on the case. The CARP is scheduled to expire in January 2008. The farmers hope for a quick resolution before the CARP expires.

Call to Action by the FIAN and the Filipino people as well:

Please write a polite letter to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as well as to Secretary Nasser C. Pangandaman, Department of Agrarian Reform, requesting them to immediately distribute the 144-hectare land and install the 165 farmer beneficiaries and their families to the said landholding.