Bank says DAR chief not allowed to reclassify land

Secretary Rafael Mariano. INQUIRER PHOTO

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO— Moving to protect its 300-hectare land inside Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac province, the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) said Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano had no authority to convert its property into agrarian land.

Members of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) began occupying the bank’s property on April 24.

In a statement, lawyer George dela Cuesta, RCBC counsel, said Mariano, a former KMP chair, could not legally revoke the land use conversion order issued in 1996 by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) covering lands that the bank bought from the Luisita Industrial Park Corp. (Lipco) in 2004.

In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that the conversion order was valid.

In February this year, Mariano placed 727 ha in Hacienda Luisita under the coverage of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, including the RCBC property.

Mariano had not replied when asked to comment on RCBC’s statement.

But in earlier statements, he said 384 ha of 727 ha of lands were “part of the 500-ha property of [Hacienda Luisita Inc. or HLI] previously approved for conversion in 1996 and that had been sold, transferred or assigned to the Centenary Holidays Inc., Luisita Realty Corp., Lipco and RCBC, which means that the transferees stepped into the shoes of HLI between 1998 and 2005.”

The RCBC property has not been developed for industrial use, Mariano had said.

Seventy percent of HLI was owned by the Tarlac Development Corp. while 30 percent were controlled by farm workers. HLI was tasked to oversee the stock shares of farmers representing 4,915 ha at the sugar estate in 1989 when Hacienda Luisita and the farmers agreed to pursue a stock sharing deal as an agrarian reform option.

But in 2012, the Supreme Court ordered the DAR to cancel the stock distribution option and instead give 4,500 ha to more than 6,000 farm workers.

Dela Cuesta said Mariano’s decision to reverse the conversion order, affecting the RCBC property, and to restore its classification as agricultural land “directly violates the [2012] Supreme Court decision issued five years ago.”

“The DAR has no authority to revoke the conversion order and overrule the Supreme Court. Secretary Mariano’s order completely lacks legal basis,” Dela Cuesta said.

RCBC has filed a motion for reconsideration in the DAR, he said, adding that the agency’s “inaction on the matter has encouraged the eruption of violence in the area.” —TONETTE OREJAS