[NOTICE: The AHRC have developed a new automatic letter-sending system using the “button” below. However, in this appeal, we could not include e-mail addresses of some of the Philippine authorities. We encourage you to send your appeal letters via fax or post to those people. Fax numbers and postal addresses of the Philippine authorities are attached below with this appeal. Thank you.]
Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that a group of farmers in Negros Occidental launched a hunger strike as they are denied of access to the land they owned under the land reform. 144 hectares of land was awarded to them five years ago under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Programme (CARP). However, they have not yet received the land due to the inaction of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).
CASE DETAILS:
According the information received from Task Force Mapalad (TFM), the farmers are already on their 12th day of strike in front of the DAR Central Office in Diliman, Quezon City. They launched the strike on 22 February 2007 to protest the continued delay in their installation. Under the CARP, 144 hectares of land in Hacienda Velez-Malaga in Barangay Robles, municipality of La Castellana, Negros Occidental, Western Visayas, was awarded to 122 farmers. They received their certificate of land ownership award (CLOA) in April 2002. The former landowner, Cuenca, was paid P22 million for compensation. This compulsory acquisition and redistribution was covered under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1998 (Republic Act 6657).
On 20 February 2007, government officials held a meeting with the farmers and TMF staff to discuss details of the installation. The representatives from the government included, Rafael Coscoluela, presidential adviser for the Visayas, and three officials from DAR: Narciso B. Nieto, Undersecretary for Field Operations of DAR, Alexis Arsenal, Regional Director of DAR, and Stephen Leonidas, Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer.
The DAR officials and Coscoluela were all in agreement that there is no legal impediment to the installation of the farmer-beneficiaries. However, instead of immediate implementing the law, the officials pushed for another offer from Cuenca. Coscoluela brought up that Cuenca offered to relocate the farmers to another portion of the hacienda, which the farmers described as steep and less productive. The farmer representative rejected the offer in the meeting.
The representatives from TFM made it clear that Cuenca was no longer the owner of the land, and was in no position to make any offer involving the farmers’ ownership of the 144 hectares of land. They also urged the officials to observe the law and install the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs). The DAR Secretary has already assured that he would install the beneficiaries but has failed to do so to date. It is alleged that he is negotiating with the farmers regarding the Cuenca’s offer.
On 24 January, the farmers tried to reclaim the land on their own, which was in conformity with the Supreme Court judgment and DAR decision. Yet, a fighting broke up between the farmers and the security guards, 3 persons were severely injured. On the next day, Pepito Santillan, a farmer beneficiary was shot dead in front of his house at 2 a.m. in the morning. His killing is said to be related to the land dispute, but the case has yet to be investigated. (Please refer to: UA-047-2007)
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The land beneficiaries of Hacienda Velez-Malaga and the landlord Cuenca family have been fighting for land ownership for the past 11 years. The property is part of the 446 hectares of sugarcane estate owned by the Cuenca family that was subjected to CARP coverage. However, Cuenca family opposed the DAR’s decision and refused to give their land to the farmers.
The Cuenca family questioned the legitimacy of 77 of the 122 farmer beneficiaries to whom the DAR has given CLOA and they filed a petition to cancel their CLOA in court. Although the Cuencas has secured court order canceling the CLOA of the 122 farmers, it was later considered “null and void after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the framers and had reversed the lower court’s decision”. The case was then brought to court. In 2004, the Supreme Court upheld the DAR’s ruling that the farmers have the right to reside at Hacienda in Barangay Robles, La Castellana in Negros Occidental. The lower court in the first place has no jurisdiction to adjudicate cases related to agrarian disputes; it is only the Department of Agrarian Reform Arbitration Board (DARAB), a quasi-judicial body.
Subsequently in September 2006, the Secretary of DAR, Nasser Pangandaman, reportedly issued an order for the farmer beneficiaries to occupy the 144 hectares of land owned by Roberto Cuenca. However, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling and the DAR’s order, the secretary of DAR himself has postponed the schedule of entry of the farmers to the said land so far.
The DAR Secretary should be held liable for his continued inaction, negligence of duty by failing to install the farmers as rightful owners despite lawful court orders. Their immediate installation must be acted upon without delay. Besides, appropriate actions and inquiry must also be taken against the lower courts for handling and resolving cases that are not under their jurisdiction in the first place. Appropriate compensation should also be afforded to the farmer beneficiaries because they have been denied their land rights, and that the government’s failure has systemically deprived them of their means of livelihood to date.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the following authorities, urging the responsible government agencies to implement the CLOA without further delay, and schedule the farmers’ entry to their land. Independent and impartial investigations should be conducted to identify and prosecute the perpetrators in the killing of Pepito Santillan.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear _____________,
PHILIPPINES: Farmers launch hunger strike to fight for their land
I am writing to express my concerns about that a group of farmers in Negros Occidental launched a hunger strike as they are denied of access to the land they owned under the land reform. 144 hectares of land was awarded to them five years ago under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Programme (CARP). However, they have not yet received the land due to the inaction of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).
According the information I received, the farmers are already on their 12th day of strike in front of the DAR Central Office in Diliman, Quezon City. They launched the strike on 22 February 2007 to protest the continued delay in their installation. Under the CARP, 144 hectares of land in Hacienda Velez-Malaga in Barangay Robles, municipality of La Castellana, Negros Occidental, Western Visayas, was awarded to 122 farmers. They received their certificate of land ownership award (CLOA) in April 2002. The former landowner, Cuenca, was paid P22 million for compensation. This compulsory acquisition and redistribution was covered under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1998 (Republic Act 6657).
I am also informed that he Cuenca family questioned the legitimacy of 77 of the 122 farmer beneficiaries to whom the DAR has given CLOA and they filed a petition to cancel their CLOA in court. Although the Cuencas has secured court order canceling the CLOA of the 122 farmers, it was later considered “null and void after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the framers and had reversed the lower court’s decision”. The case was then brought to court. In 2004, the Supreme Court upheld the DAR’s ruling that the farmers have the right to reside at Hacienda in Barangay Robles, La Castellana in Negros Occidental. The lower court in the first place has no jurisdiction to adjudicate cases related to agrarian disputes; it is only the Department of Agrarian Reform Arbitration Board (DARAB), a quasi-judicial body.
I am informed that on 20 February 2007, government officials held a meeting with the farmers and TMF staff to discuss details of the installation. The representatives from the government included, Rafael Coscoluela, presidential adviser for the Visayas, and three officials from DAR: Narciso B. Nieto, Undersecretary for Field Operations of DAR, Alexis Arsenal, Regional Director of DAR, and Stephen Leonidas, Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer.
I also learned that the DAR officials and Coscoluela were all in agreement that there is no legal impediment to the installation of the farmer-beneficiaries. However, instead of immediate implementing the law, the officials pushed for another offer from Cuenca. Coscoluela brought up that Cuenca offered to relocate the farmers to another portion of the hacienda, which the farmers described as steep and less productive. The farmer representative rejected the offer in the meeting.
The representatives from TFM made it clear that Cuenca was no longer the owner of the land, and was in no position to make any offer involving the farmers’ ownership of the 144 hectares of land. They also urged the officials to observe the law and install the CLOA. The DAR Secretary has already assured that he would install the beneficiaries but has failed to do so to date. It is alleged that he is negotiating with the farmers regarding the Cuenca’s offer.
I recalled that on 24 January, the farmers tried to reclaim the land on their own, which was in conformity with the Supreme Court judgment and DAR decision. Yet, a fighting broke up between the farmers and the security guards, 3 persons were severely injured. On the next day, Pepito Santillan, a farmer beneficiary, was shot dead in front of his house at 2 a.m. in the morning. His killing is said to be related to the land dispute, but the case has yet to be investigated.
I appreciate the aim of CARP to improve the livelihood of landless peasants, however, the programme will be meaningless if the government fails to implement the programme according to law. I urge the DAR to implement the CLOA of the farmers without further delay, and schedule the farmers’ entry to the land. Independent and impartial investigations should be conducted to identify and prosecute the perpetrators in the killing of Pepito Santillan.
I also request you to ensure that the DAR Secretary is held liable for his continued inaction, negligence of duty by failing to install the farmers as rightful owners despite lawful court orders. Besides, appropriate actions and inquiry must also be taken against the lower courts for handling and resolving cases that are not under their jurisdiction in the first place. Appropriate compensation should also be afforded to the farmer beneficiaries because they have been denied their land rights, and that the government’s failure has systemically deprived them of their means of livelihood to date.
I trust that you take serious and effective action on this matter.
Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
President
Republic of the Philippines
Malacanang Palace
JP Laurel Street, San Miguel
Manila 1005
PHILIPPINES
Fax: +63 2 736 1010
Tel: +63 2 735 6201 / 564 1451 to 80
2. Ms. Purificacion Quisumbing
Commissioner
Commission on Human Rights
SAAC Bldg., Commonwealth Avenue
U.P. Complex, Diliman
Quezon City
PHILIPPINES
Tel: +63 2 928 5655 / 926 6188
Fax: +63 2 929 0102
Email: drpvq@yahoo.com
3. Datu Nasser C. Pangandaman, Al Hadj
Secretary
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR)
Eliptical Road, Diliman
Quezon City 1104, Metro Manila
PHILIPPINES
Tel: +63 2 929 3460 / 930 0380
Fax: +63 2 929 3088
4. Mrs. Esperanza I. Cabral
Secretary
Department of Social Welfare and Development
3/F DSWD Building, Batasang Pambansa Complex,
Constitution Hills
Quezon City
PHILIPPINES
Tel: +63 2 931 7916 / 931 8068
Fax: +63 2 931 8191
Email: eicabral@dswd.gov.ph
5. Mr. Jean Zeigler
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food
c/o Mr. Carlos Villan Duran
Room 4-066, OHCHR, Palais Wilson,
Rue des Paquis 52, Geneva
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9300
Fax: +41 22 9179010 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR RIGHT TO FOOD)
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)
