Luisita case inspires Quezon farmers to demand CARP, too

LUCENA CITY—Encouraged by the Supreme Court decision on Hacienda Luisita, Quezon farmers urged the government to speed up the distribution of farm lands in the Bondoc Peninsula area.

Jansept Geronimo, agrarian campaign officer of the Quezon Association for Rural Development and Democratization Services (Quardds), yesterday urged President Aquino and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to immediately resolve all pending cases that delay distribution of farm lands, particularly in the 1,716-hectare Hacienda Matias.

He said the legal maneuvers of the landowners prevented the vast estate, located in the villages of Don Juan Verselos and Butangiad in San Francisco town, from being covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

The provincial DAR office, that covers the Bondoc Peninsula and Lamon Bay areas, was only able to award 965 ha out of its target of 2,059 ha last year, said Maribel Luzara, head of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Bondoc Peninsula.

Citing government data, she said the rest of the farmlands that were long awarded to farmers have yet to be surveyed for actual distribution.

On April 2, 2012, the Germany-based Food First Information and Action Network (FIAN) asked Mr. Aquino to help put closure to the agrarian case.

The Matias family petitioned for exemption from CARP coverage, declaring their land to be a “ranch.” The petition has yet to be acted upon by Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes.

Dr. Flavio Valente, secretary general of FIAN International, said the 121 farmer families (a total of 531 persons) in Hacienda Matias were still waiting for the land to be distributed to them since 2004, when the farmers petitioned that the land be covered by CARP.

DAR issued a “notice of coverage” to the landlord and conducted an initial survey in response to the 2004 petition but the Matias family allegedly resorted to various forms of harassment to fight the enforcement of the DAR directive, Valente said in his letter to Mr. Aquino posted in FIAN’s website.

Valente urged DAR to take over the 639-ha portion of the Matias estate and allow the farmers’ peaceful possession of the land since these have been paid for by the government through CARP.

He said attempts to install the farmers on their land in Hacienda Matias all failed due to landowner resistance.

Geronimo said the Matias family resorted to suing the farmers for qualified theft of coconuts and trespassing to evade CARP.