18 farmers who occupied Negros gov’t land charged

BACOLOD CITY—The Negros Occidental provincial government has filed charges of illegal trespassing and grave threats against 18 farmers who occupied and farmed land owned by the provincial government in Murcia town.

Jose Maria Valencia, provincial legal officer, said the provincial government filed the charges at the Negros Occidental provincial prosecutor’s office.

The farmers occupied a parcel of land belonging to the Negros First Ranch in Barangay Sta. Rosa in Murcia on April 2 and 4.

Valencia said provincial and municipal agrarian reform officials may be named respondents as well if the farmers cited the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) as reason for occupying the land.

The 160-hectare Negros First Ranch was acquired by the provincial government in 2010 and was used to house 6,000 sheep and cattle purchased in Australia under its livestock dispersal program.

Valencia said the conflict became complicated when, on March 5, the Department of Agrarian Reform issued a notice of CARP coverage for 50 hectares of the ranch.

After the notice was issued, Valencia said illegal occupants forced their way into the ranch in April.

Majority of the occupants, he said, were not even residents of the village where the ranch was located.

Valencia said the occupants “were emboldened to do so.”

Valencia said the DAR had required the provincial government to submit documents to justify exemption of the ranch from CARP coverage.

“They only gave farmers false hope that the 50 hectares is now under CARP, which is not supposed to be,” Valencia said.

Gov. Alfredo Marañon blamed “outsiders” for the problem at the ranch.

Valencia said other groups of farmers were also planning to occupy portions of the ranch.

He said the provincial government has a pending application to exempt the entire ranch from CARP.