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Friday, January 26, 2007
100 farmers take over banana farm
By Jeffery M. Tupas
DAVAO CITY -- More than 100 farmers and their supporters forcibly occupied a banana plantation area in Malalag, Davao del Sur -- a move that adversely affected the operations of a giant banana company.
The farmers, all members of the Davao del Sur Farmers Association (Dasurfa), installed wire cordon around the 317-hectare banana plantation and prevented the employees of the Lapanday Agricultural and Development Corporation (Ladeco) from entering the area Tuesday.
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On Wednesday, a gunfight erupted between the guards employed by the farmers and some armed men believed to be employed by the Ladeco.
A grenade was also lobbed inside the area held by the farmers but failed to explode.
Police later found empty shells of various firearms in the area. No one was reported dead or hurt in the firefight.
Peter Tanduyan, spokesperson of Dasurfa, said a bloodbath is expected to explode in the areas if they will be forced to leave the property.
Malalag Police Chief Deozar Almasa said the conflict in the area could be related to land dispute.
He, however, said the police could not immediately settle the dispute without the written request from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).
"We are monitoring the activities inside the area every now and then. Our role is to secure both parties but we have to be very careful," he said.
Almasa said they are still investigating the shooting incidents including the past incidents of harassments of members of the farmers group.
"We have to investigate on this and the farmers have to follow the process...record it in the police office and file complaints," said Almasa.
Tanduyan said they are now the rightful owners of the property, which was awarded to them by the DAR through the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (Carp) in 1997.
"We want to physically occupy the area and we want all those who are involved to respect the decision of DAR and the Supreme Court. The law says we can claim whatever can be found inside this property and so we will," Tanduyan said.
Almost a decade after the decision, the farmers were yet to be installed into the property -- a reason for their growing impatience, which eventually led to the land occupation.
This came following the filing of cases, including the several petitions filed by Ladeco for reconsiderations of the decisions made by DAR.
In September 2003, a Supreme Court resolution upheld the decision of the DAR Adjudication Board (Darab), which also affirmed the 1997 decision of the DAR office in Davao del Sur. In January 2005, a Supreme Court resolution also ordered the enforcement of the DAR order.
Following these, a writ of execution was issued by the Darab. However, until recently, the farmer-beneficiaries have not positioned themselves in the area.
Ladeco is a holder of a lease agreement with the landowner Philip Diel who already conceded with the court decisions.
As a result of the forcible occupation of the property, Ladeco employees failed to harvest the bananas.
Roberto Pe, assistant production manager of Ladeco, said the land occupation caused the company delay, which affected their targeted quota.
"We don't want trouble. We don't care about the land conflict now. All we want is to get inside the area and harvest because we have quota to meet," Pe said.
Jerry Diaz, manager of Ladeco packing house, admitted that the land occupation has created huge damage to the production target of the company.
A company-owned packing plant and office can be found inside the property being claimed by the farmer-beneficiaries. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Davao. (January 26, 2007 issue)
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