FORTY-TWO farming families. Seventy-one hectares of agricultural land subject to distribution under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). Twelve years of waiting.
Alas, there was a flaw: an erroneous publication of the Notice of Coverage (NOC).
How could this happen? Was this a deliberate or an inadvertent mistake? Why didn’t the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) notice the error for more than a decade?
Why did DAR allow the 42 farming families to thirst — and shed tears — for their land? Who is to blame now?
‘INDEFENSIBLE BLUNDER’
Here is the story of what could only be described as an “indefensible blunder.”
In 2012, DAR had already issued an NOC covering 42 farming families qualified to receive land from the 71-hectare agricultural estate of the late Josefina Yulo in her hacienda in Barangay Quiwi, Hinigaran, Negros Occidental.
The beneficiaries waited for 12 years; nothing happened.
Confused about their fate, they sought the legal services of Atty. Rey Gorgonio. They also sought help from the local government of Hinigaran.
Last week, they staged a protest at Hacienda Josefina Yulo. It was only then that they learned DAR had committed an indefensible blunder — the erroneous publication of the NOC.
DUE TO TECHNICALITIES
On Monday, August 24, I talked to Atty. Gorgonio about the case. My simple question was: “What went wrong?”
Atty. Gorgonio said the name of a certain Quirico Yusay was mistakenly published as the landowner instead of Josefina Yulo.
Then, instead of 71 hectares, only 61 hectares were stated in the publication as being subject to coverage.
Because of these technical errors, the process — from land valuation to the eventual installation of the farmer-beneficiaries — stalled.
Did the Municipal Agrarian Reform Office (MARO) in Hinigaran really fail to spot these errors — the wrong name of the landowner and the incorrect land area? For 12 long years?
BACK TO SQUARE ONE
Thanks to DAR Negros Island Regional Director Lucrecia Taberna for her prompt action on the matter. Right after I referred the case to her office, she immediately ordered PARPO II head Arnulfo Figueroa to straighten out the mess.
Sir Figueroa told yours truly that he had already instructed the new MARO-Hinigaran head, Scintilla Patindo, to restart the documentation and expedite the process as much as possible.
But Sir Figueroa said the process would have to go back to square one — from the issuance of the NOC, to land valuation by the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), payment to the landowner, issuance of the Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA), and, finally, the installation of the farmer-beneficiaries.
Holy cow!
HUSH-HUSH IMPEDIMENT
During a dialogue between MARO-Hinigaran and the farmer-beneficiaries on Monday, August 24, another impediment emerged. The so-called “heirs” of Josefina Yulo reportedly have a pending Petition for Retention before MARO-Hinigaran involving 55 hectares of the estate.
Of the 71 hectares covered by the NOC, the “heirs” reportedly want to give only 16 hectares to the farmer-beneficiaries.
The remaining 55 hectares, Atty. Gorgonio said, were being eyed for conversion into a subdivision.
But Atty. Gorgonio said they argued that the late landowner, Josefina Yulo, had no children.
“So, how could it be that she had the heirs?” he asked.
That is why Atty. Gorgonio said he would meet again with the farmer-beneficiaries to determine whether they are willing to accept the proposed settlement: process the 16 hectares first while allowing the remaining 55 hectares to be retained by Yulo’s supposed “heirs.”
If they refuse, he said, they would have no choice but to compel DAR to proceed with what was stated in the NOC.
DIGNITY, SOCIAL JUSTICE
Tackling this story, I can’t help but feel like cussing.
Was MARO-Hinigaran really aware of its blunder? Did it ever think about the dignity of the farmer-beneficiaries?
MARO-Hinigaran should have considered the social justice due these former tillers, who invested their sweat and blood in their long struggle to lawfully acquire the land. Twelve long years of prolonged agony is simply unacceptable. And the mistakes weren’t merely typographical. The name Quirico Yusay is totally different from the name Josefina Yulo — different first names, surnames and even genders. An honest mistake?
The price of thirst and tears for land is difficult to measure. Agony caused by intense mental suffering is unquantifiable. The consequences of a 12-year blunder may be beyond repair./PN
