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Thursday, November 06, 2008
Farmers may face illegal detention raps
DUMAGUETE CITY -– Agrarian officials in Negros Oriental are studying the filing of criminal charges against farmer beneficiaries for detaining several agrarian officials in Bayawan City.
Provincial Police Director Rey Lyndon Lawas said the municipal agrarian reform officers (Maros) are welcome to file formal charges against the farmer-beneficiaries if they think they were being held against their will and if their rights had been violated.
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Tension erupted at the Department of Agrarian Reform Municipal Office (Darmo) in Bayawan City, Negros Oriental on Tuesday as an undetermined number of agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) allegedly held some DAR personnel against their will.
Sketchy reports reaching the provincial DAR office in Dumaguete said the ARBs allegedly locked the Maros of Bayawan and Sta. Catalina inside the Darmo in Bayawan as they sought to dialogue with the Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer (Paro) I Pacifico Quindo.
The farmers are beneficiaries of the former agricultural property owned by former third district representative Herminio Teves.
Aileen Alaban, provincial DAR information officer, identified the Maros as Julmar Toralde and Mariano Sarvida of Bayawan City, and Elena Gara of Sta. Catalina.
Alaban said the ARBs detained several DAR officials at their Bayawan office from 10:30 in the morning until the gate was opened around 4 p.m. Tuesday.
She said the Maros missed their lunch and had stopped texting them later on their status, leaving the DAR personnel in Dumaguete worried over their safety.
She alleged that the ARBs were supported by the Task Force Mapalad (TFM), adding that Paro Grace Fua condemned the activities committed by the beneficiaries.
Alaban said a dialogue was supposedly scheduled Tuesday morning but the Paro decided to delegate it to the Maros there as they were waiting for a reply from the national headquarters of the Philippine National Police (PNP) regarding a directive on the installation of the beneficiaries.
The installation was stalled after the PNP hierarchy issued an order that the standard operating procedure now was for the DAR to acquire an approval from Camp Crame before any installation can take place.
DAR officials lamented the farmer-beneficiaries cannot wait for the proper time to be installed according to proper procedure.
Alaban also said the dialogue pushed through on Wednesday and that both parties agreed to wait for the order of the PNP for the promised assistance in installing them of the land owned by the Teves family. (Sunnex/with reports from Edmund Sestoso)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Dumaguete. (November 6, 2008 issue)
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