Farmers expose Rep. Villafuerte’s threats of landgrabbing in San Miguel, Bulacan

Leaders and members of Upland Farmers Association, Inc. (UFAI) and Lingap Magsasaka of Sitio Malapad, Bgy. Sibul, San Miguel, Bulacan exposed the verbal threats of Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte in an attempt to displace them of their farms.

UFAI is a local chapter of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP, Peasant Movement of the Philippines) whose members are farmers of Sitio Malapad and some parts of adjacent barangays belonging to Doňa Remedios Trinidad town. They cultivate the 375 hectares of rich agricultural lands of the said sitio, which is composed of 27-hectare rice lands that are under PD 27 and farmers are Certificate of Land Transfer (CLT) and Emancipation Patents (EP) holders. Also, the hilly parts of the area were covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and farmers were issued with Certificate of Land Ownership Awards (CLOA).

“Rep. Luis Villafuerte came from nowhere and now he is claiming that he owns the 375 hectares of panoramic and rich agricultural lands of San Miguel, Bulacan,” said Antonio Flores, KMP Spokesperson said in a press conference.

“We know what he is up to, he is using the foundation of his daughter, Mylene V. Matti, the Green Earth Heritage Foundation to break in to rural communities. We saw their website (http://www.greenearthheritage.org/) and read they claim to be Christians and believers of the dignity of human beings, but they are the ones who are grabbing lands and displacing farmers. This is very fraudulent and should be investigated,” said Flores.

The groups KMP, Pamalakaya-Pilipinas (fisherfolk), UMA (agri-workers), NNARA-Youth (students), Anakpawis Partylist, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP, church people) and Agham held a fact-finding mission this September 3 at the area. They were able to interview the resident farmers of the threat of Rep. Villafuerte.

First to be in the area
“I started farming with 12 others in Sitio Malapad since 1963. I was a worker at the sawmill of David Lumber Co., the David family owned the lands. When it closed down, the owner allowed me to cultivate their lands which were used as the source of their logs,” said Juan Estremadora, 79 years old, a senior member of UFAI.

“Before the Davids, the Tecsons owned the lands until they sold it during the 1950s. There were no Villafuerte until 1972 when there were stories that 200 hectares were sold to the father of Villafuerte. Then came Marcos’ martial law, the rice lands were covered by PD 27 and we were given with CLTs and EPs,” added Estremadora.

In 1988, the whole 375 hectares were covered by CARP, including the rice lands, and farmers were given CLOAs. In 2000, farmers claimed that Land Bank ceased from accepting payments as the lands were under dispute. There are about a thousand farmers in the area where 200 are farmer-beneficiaries. On March this year, the Dept. of Agrarian Reform Region III issued an exemption order and Rep. Luis Villafuerte came to the scene.

However, the order is being questioned by agrarian lawyers from SENTRA as it did not go with the legal process. SENTRA claims that only the DAR Central Office could exempt lands larger than 50 hectares and DAR regional office could be held legally liable. Also, there were no consultation held with the affected farmers as the first dialogue was held on April 7 this year, after the order was issued, debunking DAR regional office’s claim that it was the consultation.

Threats from a despotic landlord-lawmaker
Rep. Villafuerte’s first meeting with the farmers was on April 7 this year at a nearby closed down spring resort. At the dialogue, the farmers were threatened by Rep. Villafuerte and claimed that he owns the lands that they till. He was accompanied by his private guards, elements of the Scout Rangers and 56th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army.

Raymundo Gabriel, 52 years old, a farmer who attended the meeting.recalled Rep. Villafuerte saying, “Bahala kayo, kung gusto n’yo ng laban, dalawa lang ang pagpipilian n’yo, langit o lupa.” (“It’s up to you, if you want a fight, you could chose either heaven or land.”)

Also, Magdalena Libunan, 58 years old, remembered “Kung gusto n’yo ng karahasan, dadalhan ko kayo ng karahasan, kung gusto n’yo ng kaguluhan, dadalhan ko kayo ng kaguluhan,” (“If you want violence, I can give you violence, if you want disorder, I can give you disorder.”)

Moreover, surveyors of Rep. Villafuerte arrived on August 22 and were confronted by the farmers. The 47-year old Anita Galuno, confirmed that James Matti, the husband of Rep. Villafuerte’s daughter Mylene, said “volunteer lang ang Scout Rangers.” Villafuerte’s group were accompanied by about 40-50 members of the Scout Rangers, in full-battle gear. Also in September 1, two unidentified men in shorts, one wearing a jacket imprinted with “US” arrived at her home, acting mysteriously. They asked Galuno if she knows a member of the New People’s Army and they intend to join. She then ignored them and went inside her house. In the afternoon, another man asked her grade 4 child attending their horse, of his father.

Furthermore, Pastor Marvin De Leon, minister of United Methodist Church at the nearby Bgy. Calumpang and a member of Lingap Magsasaka, also had an experience. Upon opening the doors of their chapel on August 23, he saw a round of M-14 rifle with a note saying, “Isang bala ka lang,” (“You match a bullet.”) Also, a member of their church encountered 4 men in civilian clothes, riding a gray Mitsubishi L-300 van asking of his whereabouts. On September 1, a teacher-member of their church also encountered a man posing as a Meralco employee but with no identification or documents, riding a Toyota Revo.

“Rep. Villafuerte is doing terror-tactics as the farmers are fighting back against his landgrabbing. The farmers of UFAI are determined to defend their lands,” said Flores.

Calls for genuine land reform
Farmers of Sitio Malapad are resolutely calling for genuine land reform or the immediate distribution of their lands. They hold CLT, EPs and CLOAs but the government has no plan of giving them the lands, instead, allows landgrabbers such as Rep. Villafuerte. At present, they are preparing for more eventful encounters with the lawmaker.

They are also calling for the House of Representatives to look into the landgrabbing of Rep. Villafuerte. They believe that his actions they experienced first-hand were not acts of a lawmaker at all. Also, they consider that he was in collusion with the DAR regional office who issued the exemption order. They urged Speaker Prospero Nograles to designate a committee to look unto the landgrabbing case.

“He is really smart, using all his power and influence, using corrupt DAR officials and military to scare off farmers. But certainly he will fail, as the farmers are united,” Flores said.

“We are calling all sectors to support the struggle of farmers from San Miguel, Bulacan. This is a concrete example of what persists nationwide. We should support their fight for genuine land reform and oppose corrupt government officials such as Rep. Luis Villafuerte,” called Flores.#