Arroyos Face Land Reform Scandal
The supposed beneficiaries of a hacienda owned by the Arroyos are now
worried that they may end up landless. They argue that President Arroyo’s
credibility is not just being eroded because of the allegedly wiretapped
conversations and the jueteng (illegal numbers game) controversy.
More important, she has failed to stand up to the interest of millions of
poor tillers.
By
BULATLAT
Are the Arroyos
involved in another scandal?
Farmer-beneficiaries
of a hacienda (vast tract of land) owned by the family of Jose
Miguel Arroyo, husband of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, could end up
landless after they learned from the Department of Land Reform (DLR) that
the said hacienda has been exempted from the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Program (CARP).
The farm workers learned from the DLR that the bulk of the 197-ha Hacienda
Grande in Negros Occidental was divided into 40 titles and the ownership
transferred to 27 corporations, seven individuals, a foundation and a
homeowner’s association.
Owned by Antonio
Arroyo, an uncle of the president’s husband, Grande consists of four lots
in Barangay Robles, La Castellana town, Negros Occidental.
“Since President Arroyo promised that the First Family would give up their
inherited lands to agrarian reform, we expected to become owners of
Hacienda Grande through the awarding of certificates of land ownership
award (CLOAs). Little did we know that it has already been parceled out to
companies and individuals who also own these companies and are relatives
of the First Gentleman,” said 55-year old Jose Rodito Angeles.
Angeles is a farmer-beneficiary (FB) of the hacienda and president of the
national peasant federation Task Force Mapalad (TFM) and a member of the
Alyansa Sang Mangunguma sa Dutang Arroyo (ASM-DA, Alliance of Farmers in
the Land of
Arroyo), a local people’s organization of
the TFM composed of farm workers of Arroyo lands in Negros Occidental.
The beneficiaries also found that while the hacienda was already
subdivided into several owners, the whole property remains a sugar farm,
which has been leased to Antonio Trebol since 1994. Section 6 of Republic
Act No. 6657 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL) prohibits the
lease of agricultural lands beginning June 15, 1988, the date of CARL’s
effectivity.
“GMA’s failure to distribute the Arroyo lands to farmers and her lack of
political will to acquire contentious private agricultural landholdings
and install beneficiaries in these haciendas are the source of the
farmers’ frustration over her leadership. To the farmers’ perception,
President Arroyo’s credibility isn’t crumbling because of the Garci tapes
and the jueteng (illegal numbers game) controversy but because she
does not stand up to the interest of millions of poor tillers,” said
Angeles.
Five-hectare retention limit
According to Angeles,
they found at the DLR provincial office that only 19.4 hectares of the
hacienda could be covered under CARP that would benefit 53 beneficiaries.
More than 177 hectares (90 percent) were transferred to 36 owners and 40
titles in 1987, 1988 and 1992.
Angeles said the
landowner plans to have the 19.4-hectare portion converted into
non-agricultural use. In this situation, he stressed that 53 beneficiaries
would only end up with 3,600 square meters each. Worse, they could become
landless if the plan to convert the agricultural land pushes through.
“The land would be
very small for us. How could we make the land productive and how could we
improve our source of livelihood if we would just be given a very small
parcel of the hacienda. The ideal farm-size for each beneficiary is
three hectares,” explained Angeles.
The landholding was subdivided mostly into five hectares and below for
the companies and the individual owners. “If you subdivide the hacienda
into five hectares and below, it could not anymore be subjected to CARP
because under the law, five hectares is the retention limit for every
landowner. We suspect that the subdivision was done this way apparently to
evade CARP,” said Angeles.
Subdivided into 17 titles
The first subdivision for the 84.42-hectare portion of Hacienda
Grande happened on July 3, 1987. This portion was subdivided into 13
owners under one title, namely Handumanan Home Industries (7 hectares),
Anmeco Realty and Development Corporation, (6 hectares), Carmela Arroyo
(6.4 hectares), Mercedes A. Reyes (6.4 hectares), Ma. Rosa A. Suatengco
(6.4 hectares), Remigio A. Suatengco (6.4 hectares), Anthony A. Suatengco
(6.4 hectares), Anna A. Suatengco (6.4 hectares), Teresita L. Javellana
(6.4 hectares), Mara Foundation (6.4 hectares), Pepita Livelihood
Enterprises (6.4 hectares), Pax Homeowners’ Association (6.4 hectares) and
Maia Management Corporation (6.4 hectares).
On October 15, 1992,
the 84.42-hectare portion was further subdivided into 17 new titles with
the same owners, except for a certain Remigio Reyes.
“It is evident that the lot previously under 13 owners who had more than
five hectares each was further subdivided into 17 titles so that the
landholding could be exempted from CARP coverage,” said Angeles.
Subdivided into 16
titles
Meanwhile, the 76.91-hectare portion of the hacienda was
subdivided into 16 new owners under one title registered with the Registry
of Deeds (ROD) on June 24, 1988. The 16 owners are Calla Harvest
Enterprises, Karmel Kitchen Products, Oriana Business Ventures Inc.,
Merpi’s Childcraft and Things Association, Inc., Raimundo Ventures Inc.,
St. Vincent Agri-Business Ventures, Inc., St. Michael’s Toys and Crafts
Livelihood Association, Inc., Marguerite Marketing Ventures, Inc., Rosette
Home and Artcrafts Livelihood Association, Inc., Nina Enterprises, Edouard
Farm and Poultry Co., Inc., Meara Marketing Enterprises, Inc., Areta
Ventures Inc., St. Gerard Enterprises, St. Joseph Agri Products, Inc. and
Hesper Development Corp. The latter owns 1.91 hectares while the others
have five hectares each.
Subdivided into seven titles
The 30.3-hectare
portion, on the other hand, was subdivided into seven owners under one
title registered with the ROD on June 22, 1988. This title was
subsequently subdivided into seven titles on January 6, 1993 with the same
owners.
The first six owners
have five hectares each, namely Maja Grande Ventures, Inc., Eir
Enterprises, Inc., Maisie Ventures, Inc., Parnella Plants & Products,
Inc., Arnette Services Ventures, Inc. and Fides Agri-Business, Inc. The
seventh owner, Hesper Dev’t. Corporation, has 3.1 hectares.
Subdivided into two titles
Finally, the 5.0319-ha. portion of the hacienda was subdivided
into two owners under one title registered with the ROD on June 24, 1988.
These are Rasia Agro-Development Inc. (five hectares) and Hesper
Development Corp. (319 square meters).
Based on the
documents gathered by the TFM, Atty. Modesto I. Cañonero was involved in
the several subdivision agreements of Hacienda Grande. Last March,
Cañonero, who handles agrarian reform cases, was accused of falsification
of public documents before the Prosecutor’s Office in Bacolod City by a
certain Carmelina Paulite of Hacienda Binaliwan, Brgy. Efigenio F. Lizares,
Talisay City, Negros Occidental.
“Grand(e) Scam”
“Something really
stinks with these subdivisions. It is apt to be called a Grand(e) Scam
because the beneficiaries were robbed of their rightful claim to the land
that they tilled for decades,” said TFM spokesperson Edna Sobrecaray.
“We hope that President Arroyo would immediately act on this matter. She
could now be facing a serious leadership crisis. But with or without this
crisis, the president is duty-bound to fulfill her promise of giving up
the Arroyo lands to agrarian reform and defend the poor tillers,” added
Sobrecaray. Bulatlat
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