The Sumilao farmers are from Bukidnon, a province in central Mindanao, Philippines. They have a case against the San Miguel Foods, Inc. (SMFI) to reclaim back their ancestral land. The case is simply a case between the poor and the rich and between the poor and the government. The rich are the Quisumbings and the San Miguel Foods, Inc.(SMFI) a subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation, a giant food conglomerate. The Philippine government in this instance is represented by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), the Supreme Court, the Executive Secretary, directly under the Office of the President and the President. The poor are the Higaonons, popularly known as the Sumilao farmers. We will retrace back the travails of the Sumilao farmers to better understand the injustices they have suffered.
The Higaonons and their Land
The Higaonons were the early settler of Sumilao, whose forefathers owned the 243.885 hectare prime agricultural lands between Mt. Sayawan and Mt. Palaopao. In 1930 the Angeles came and drove out the Higaonons. ( In those days a cunning land prospector could buy a vast rack of land by a few can of sardines.) Later the ownership changed hands to the Ilagans. In 1970 the land was divided by Salvador Carlos(99.885hectares) and Norberto Quisumbing(144 hectares). The latter leased it to Del Monte Philippines, Inc. (DMPI) for ten years to expire in 1994. In 1990 DAR Secretary Ernesto Garilao placed the land under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program but could not implement it as it was leased to DMPI. In 1995 the Certificate of Land Ownership Award was given to the 137 Higaonon farmers, now under the organization MAPALAD. The Sumilao farmers could not yet claim victory. Their opponent had still aces left in the bag.
The Wily Quisumbing
Norberto Quisumbing did not give up the fight. In fact he gave the Higaonons a hell of a battle. He applied for a land conversion program,which was only a guise, from agricultural to agri-industrial proposing a hotel, an academy, an agro-industrial park, a cultural center, a golf course among others. The Department of Agrarian Reform(DAR) under Secretary Garilao denied the petition. Quisumbing appealed the ruling to Executive Secretary Ruben Torres (directly under the Office of the President) who made the resolution in 1996 approving the illegal conversion. The farmers resisted it by going on hunger strike which caught national attention.. Entered President Ramos who, in 1997, made a compromise by giving the 100 hectares to Higaonons and 44 hectares to Quisumbing. This did not solve the problem, yet. Quisumbing went to Supreme Court questioning the validity of the decision of the President.
The Effective Supreme Court
A short backgrounder to the laws of the land. The court always made holdings( legal decision) based on evidence presented. A law teacher once lectured that the court could not put into prison a man who admitted directly the murder. The evidence must prove it. This is the case with Sumilao farmers.
In 1999 the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Executive Secretary Ruben Torres based on technicality. It said the DAR failed to question the Torres resolution on time. It added furthermore, the Higaonons were just farmers beneficiary recommendees and had no real interest in the land. The Quisumbings had all the legal evidences while the Higaonons could only claim right to ancestral domain. Their CLOA was superseded by their rights of the Quisumbing. The Supreme Court made decision based on evidences presented. Was Supreme Court right?
No. The Supreme Court erred. The Supreme Court could see the flimsy excuse of mere technicality but could not see the wisdom of the primordial rights of the early settlers. It could not see the conversion alibi of the Quisumbing that never materialized. It could not see the fact that the Higaonons could not have the legal land title as their forefathers owned the land even before the Spanish came or before the Philippine Republic was formed. The Higaonons owned the land since time immemorial. It could have chosen to end the case there but it did not.
The Supreme Court could have solved the problem right there by awarding back the farmers their land. Quisumbing’s lawyers could make an appeal yet to the highest court but once it decides again favoring the farmers that is the end of the line. No people will support them. The case will die down and forgotten. But it is destined not to be.
So in 1999 the Supreme Court decided in finality that the rightful owners of the 144 hectares was Quisumbing. In 2002 he sold it to SMFI, which bought it despite knowing the legal encumbrances. The SMFI leased it in turn to its subsidiary Montery Foods Corp. (MFC). The changing of ownership did not end the long running legal battle. The Sumilao farmers were no push over and were girding for counter attack.
Another chapter will begin. This time the farmers will fight it out with SMFI. The Fight With SMFI
In 2004 the farmers petition DAR to revoke the conversion as it was already five years and no project was started. (Under the CARP, project should be implemented within five years after the conversion is approved.) DAR Secretary Nasser Pangandaman denied the petition of the farmers claiming it was the Office of the President who approved the conversion. In Oct. 2006 MFC proposed a hog farming as a Revised Development Plan for Sumilao Property for approval to DAR in its agro-industrial use. In Nov. 2006, DAR approved the hog farming project as in line with the agro-industrial conversion as outlined in 1996 by the Office of the President. The farmers lodged their petition to DAR to revoke the conversion. DAR dismissed the petition claiming it was the Office of the President who approved the conversion. In 2006 the farmers lodged their petition to the Office of the President. The struggles of Sumilao farmers continued.
The petition was dismissed in Oct. 2007. When farmers knew the dismissal of their petition, they hiked 1,700 miles from Sumilao to Manila to dramatize their case. The Office of the President sent back the case to the DAR. In Dec. 2007 the farmers reached Manila, met some Senators and Archbishop Rosales who asked President Arroyo to give the land to the farmers. They farmers went to SMC head office in Pasig, performed a ritual and protested their participation to destroy the land reform program. On Dec 18, 2007, President Arroyo revoked the conversion order of 1996. Pangandaman gave the cease and desist orders to the SMFI. The farmers returned home to wait the order of finality.
SMC will appeal.the decision of the President. The case will drag. If the case will reach the Court of Appeal it will drag longer. The ending of this case is long in coming. What we can learn?
Secretary Garilao withstood the pressure;Pangandaman was not committed. Torres followed the order of President Ramos. ( The Executive Secretary is the alter ego of the President.) Thus, it was Ramos who worsened the flight of the farmers. First he approved the conversion , then divided it in compromise. “History repeats itself,” said Santayana. President Arroyo did not learn the mistake of Ramos. She first dismissed the petition, then revoked the conversion of 1996 when the dismissal did not sit well with public. The Supreme Court who could have given the quick ending was short-sighted of its decision. The government, playing politics, greatly contributed in disenfranchising the farmers from their lands.
Now where to? The case will be brought to the Court of Appeal. After it the Supreme Court. Back to square one.
A friend once said to me these lines:”When the rich fights the rich in court, you will see the price of justice. When the poor fights the rich in court, you will see injustice. But when the poor wins, you will see the beauty of justice.” For now the farmers could only hope for the beauty that is still afar off… and maybe none.
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