Quezon farmers fear losing land
LUCENA CITY—Fear of losing their farms to commercial development have caused alarm and anger among agrarian reform beneficiaries in Sariaya, Quezon.
The farmers grew uneasy after reports that individuals had been going around their villages seeking contracts to cut coconut trees, a move they suspect signals impending land conversion.
“The farmers were alarmed when several individuals were making the rounds of the villages seeking contracts for the cutting of coconut trees,” said Danny Carranza, secretary general of Kilusan Para sa Tunay na Repormang Agraryo at Katarungang Panlipunan (Katarungan), in an online interview on Monday.
Carranza said the beneficiaries in the villages of Manggalang Kiling, Concepcion 1, and Concepcion Pinagbakuran fear another round of revocations of their certificates of land ownership award (CLOAs), allegedly in favor of large corporations eyeing the land for commercial ventures.
“Their fears have historical basis. The past cancellation of their CLOAs appears to be happening again,” he said.
Call for probe
On Sunday, farmers and their families from the three villages staged a protest to urge President Marcos and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to stop the commercialization of their farmlands and act on their petition opposing the revocation of their CLOAs.
They also appealed to Sen. Francis Pangilinan, chair of the Senate committee on agriculture, food, and agrarian reform, to investigate the cancellations.
A video of the protest was posted on Facebook by Katarungan.
During the rally, former CLOA holder Efren Mendoza questioned the agency’s earlier assurances.
“The DAR told us that once a CLOA and title is issued, it can no longer be taken away from the farmer beneficiary. Why then were our CLOAs revoked? Why were we stripped of our land rights?” Mendoza said in Filipino.
A CLOA is issued by the DAR to qualified beneficiaries under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) as proof of land ownership.
Mendoza previously held a CLOA covering 2.5 hectares of farmland in Manggalang Kiling, but his title was revoked after the former landowner sought a court exemption of the estate from CARP coverage.
In 2016, the Court of Appeals also dispossessed 255 farmers of lands awarded to them in 1997, prompting a 122-kilometer protest march to Metro Manila to appeal to the DAR for the return of their land.
In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the landowners.
Food security risk
“A CLOA is not just a piece of paper. It is our livelihood, our dignity, and the future of our children. That is why we are demanding clear and immediate action,” Mendoza said.
According to farmer groups, many of the lands returned to their former owners have since been left idle or offered for commercial sale. Some landowners allowed former beneficiaries to stay as tenants or hired farmworkers, while others entered into amicable arrangements permitting them to continue tilling the land.
Data from Katarungan show that more farmers in the three villages may face dispossession if the courts deny pending petitions seeking the return of awarded lands.
Carranza warned that continued land conversion threatens national food security.
“The country will continue to lose its ability to feed its people due to land conversion. Do we still wonder why food prices keep rising?” he said.
Katarungan estimates that Sariaya farmers produce about 600,000 tons of assorted vegetables a year, supplying markets across Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon), Metro Manila, and parts of the Bicol region.
Carranza criticized the agrarian reform program, saying it has “effectively become a playground for real estate developers.”
DAR inaction
He called for an investigation into the DAR’s alleged inaction, noting that the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) had formed a task force to review the case and repeatedly inspected the area, confirming that the contested lands remain productive farms.
The farmers are also urging the PARC to audit all CARP-covered lands issued conversion orders and to assess the impact of these conversions on national food security, Carranza said.
The Inquirer sought comment from DAR officials in Quezon, but they were not immediately available.
