Land row, raps make Christmas sad for farmers

FORTY farmers in Barangay Sapang Bato in Angeles City are denied access to lands given to them by the government. TONETTE OREJAS/INQUIRER CENTRAL LUZON

ANGELES CITY—Christmas will be sad for 40 farmers in Barangay Sapang Bato here as they have been barred for a year now to till the 74 hectares awarded to them since 1994 through agrarian reform.

Eight of these farmers also received summons on Dec. 22 to answer a complaint for usurpation of a property being disputed by 11 siblings of the original owners.

The latest complaint was filed by Roberto Ignacio, son of Teresa Reyes-Ignacio, who obtained a court order in 1994 to administer the property of her parents, Florencio Reyes Sr. and Salud Elchico.

Teresa’s sister, Clara Carmelita Reyes-Pastor, obtained from her seven siblings a special power of attorney to administer 196 ha in Sapang Bato and 260 ha in Porac town, both at the periphery of the Clark Freeport.

All farmers are holders of certificates of land ownership award (Cloas) issued during the terms of Presidents Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Lawyer Kenneth Yambao, counsel of the Ignacios, said the farmers’ access to the property would be possible only after a technical survey has “segregated with certainty” the retention areas for the 11 siblings.

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) approved 55 ha as retention limits for the heirs. The lands are covered by transfer certificate titles (TCTs) 16112, 16114, 16115 and 16120 spanning 90 ha, a copy of the order showed.

The same order directed the heirs to conduct a segregation survey of the retained property, which Yambao said had not been done due to missing documents at the DAR.

In a case briefer, the DAR said the order could “not be implemented by reason of the apparent conflict between Teresa Ignacio/Roberto Ignacio and Clara Carmelita Reyes-Pastor.”

“Per records, it would appear that the conflict, which remains pending with the regular court, is as to who between them shall be the rightful administrator/executor of the subject properly,” the DAR said.

In October, the farmers won the case asking the Office of the Regional Adjudicator to maintain their possession of the property.

The Ignacios filed a motion for reconsideration on Nov. 9.

Ronald Ponce, president of the Sapang Bato Farmers Association, said they should all be granted access to their lands not only because they are Cloa holders.

“Most of the lands of the farmers are on TCTs 16113 and 16119 that are both outside the retention limits,” said Ponce.

TCT 16119, which covers 47.6 ha, was acquired by the government after the landowner ignored the proceedings.

There are Cloa holders in TCT 16120 but the DAR’s 2004 order directed the heirs to “maintain the affected tenants, if there is/are any over the retained area, in their peaceful possession.”

Ignacio, in 2012, asked the DAR to cancel the Cloas in the retained areas, saying the issuance violated the 2004 order.

The heirs, in their petition to the regional adjudicator, said the “inclusion [of Cloa holders in the retained area] in the list of farmer beneficiaries… were irregularly, inappropriately and unjustifiably made by unscrupulous DAR personnel.”

Land speculation is prevalent in Sapang Bato as it is near the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway and real estate development spills outside Clark. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon