Land ownership finally awarded to Sumilao Farmers

By Louise Dumas

Most people think that their story started with the first step crossing the boundary of their farms and the highway.  To many, their struggle was encompassed by the road which led from Bukidnon to the country’s seat of power in Malacañang.  But in their war for social justice, the Sumilao March was only a battle.

The story of the Sumilao farmers actually began when, like the untold histories of Indigenous Peoples of Bukidnon, settlers put up ranches and grazing fields in what had been their self-sustaining communities.

In the late 1930s, Higaonon communities in Sumilao were displaced when a deed of sale was drawn and the Angeles family put up a cattle ranch in their lands.  In the 1970s, part of the land went to Salvador Carlos while the 144 hectares – which would be the center of their struggle – were sold to Norberto Quisumbing.  In 1990, under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) of Corazon Aquino’s government, the land was declared eligible for distribution to the farmers.  But in 1996, because of loopholes in the law, the area was easily reclassified from agricultural to agro-industrial land, exempting it from CARP.

Once more denied their right to the land their forefathers had developed, the farmers staged a hunger strike in front of the Department of Agricultural Reform Central Office in Quezon City.  The Office of the President, seemingly relenting, decided to award 100 hectares of land to the farmers.  But as if toying with the latter, the order was again revoked and a series of promises that were never fulfilled followed.

Finally, in 2007, the farmers decided to bring their issue beyond their communities and to appeal to the rest of the country for support.  They made history when they decided to walk all the way from their farms in Sumilao to personally plead with the president.  But despite their historic march, their effort was countered with only a flimsy promise from the government.

This year, the long-sought Certificate of Land Ownership Agreement was finally awarded to them in a program held on October 10.  The certificate was personally handed over to PANAW Sumilao Multipurpose Cooperative chairperson Napoleon Merida by DAR Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes.

“The presence of DAR secretary Gil de los Reyes indicated that the new administration intends to complete the agrarian reform,” Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio J. Ledesma, SJ, DD, said.  The church had maintained an advocacy support for the farmers through the years of their struggle.  Under the new government, many more lands have been identified for distribution under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms.  Most of these lands are in Negros Occidental, Isabela, Camarines Sur and Bukidnon.