Basta ang gist na article ay pumayag na ang San Miguel na ibigay yung 144 hectares sa mga Sumilao farmers.
phil. daily inquirer, March 24
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MANILA, Philippines—San Miguel Corp. (SMC) Sunday confirmed that it had reached an agreement with the Higaonon farmers regarding the long-drawn dispute over a 144-hectare property in Sumilao, Bukidnon.
In a text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, SMC president and CEO Ramon Ang revealed the important role played by the Catholic Church, through Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, in brokering the agreement.
The controversial piece of real estate is owned by San Miguel Foods Inc. (SMFI), a subsidiary of SMC, Southeast Asia’s largest food and beverage firm.
Asked to confirm if a deal had been reached between SMC and the farmers, Ang replied: “Yes, it’s Cardinal Rosales’ wish.”
Arlene Bag-ao, the farmers’ legal counsel, said on Saturday that while the details of the agreement had yet to be finalized, the contending parties had basically agreed that the land would soon be returned to the farmers.
“We’re 80-percent sure,” farmer Peter Tuminhay said the same day.
No further details about the deal were made available at press time Sunday. Requests for information on the draft agreement that will reportedly apportion to the farmers 50 hectares from the original contested site, plus another 94 hectares from an adjacent property, went unanswered.
The SMC corporate communications staff said it had yet to receive instructions on the matter.
But at the San Jose Major Seminary Church on the Ateneo de Manila University campus, the farmers gathered for an Easter Mass to give thanks for their nearing triumph in the land dispute that has taken almost 10 years.
Some 120 farmers and at least 100 of their longtime supporters marked Christ’s resurrection and prayed for the success of the land agreement.
“Light is drawing near for our brothers and sisters from Sumilao. We are hoping that real victory will happen this week. We should thank God for guiding them through their journey and never allowing them to lose hope,” Fr. Ben Nebres, president of the Ateneo, said in a message he delivered mostly in Filipino toward the end of the hour-and-a-half concelebrated Mass that also drew nuns and students and other supporters.
“They are examples of courage, faith and determination,” Nebres said.
And then, addressing the farmers, he said: “You never gave up and for that, we salute you.
“We have much hope that your triumph will come and your land will be returned to you. We also hope that all details will be promptly arranged.”
The farmers, who walked from Sumilao, a fourth-class municipality (annual income: P20 million-P30 million) of Bukidnon, to Manila in October last year to bring their case to Malacañang, begged off from revealing details of the agreement ahead of a planned joint announcement with SMFI.
Organizers of the Mass told the Inquirer newspaper that in compliance with the embargo arrangement and the wish of the farmers and their supporters that the event be kept low-key, media vehicles were barred from entering the Ateneo’s Quezon City campus.
The organizers, who asked not to be named in keeping with the embargo, also clarified that the Mass was not a celebration but “a thanksgiving” for the glimmer of hope given the farmers.
Text messages about the occasion that made their way to media offices were also not meant as an invitation for coverage, but were a call on supporters to attend the Easter Mass, they said.
Extra-special Easter
In his homily, Fr. Danny Huang said Easter Sunday was extra-special because the Jesuit community and other supporters of the farmers were celebrating the victory at hand.
“We are here to celebrate, first, Christ’s triumph over death, and, second, because of the nearing victory of our brothers and sisters from Sumilao,” Huang said in the homily delivered in Filipino, Visayan and English.
“The details are still being laid out but it is clear that they will achieve victory in their fight to reclaim their land,” he said.
Nebres said that while triumph appeared to be at hand, the farmers’ fight had yet to end.
“In my view, the Sumilao farmers still have a long road to take in seeing the fruits of what they fought for, in realizing their dreams for their children … We know that agriculture and farming are difficult and need diligence,” he said.
Calling on the farmers’ supporters, Nebres said: “I hope this is not the end for us in watching and supporting them. I hope we can still be with them until they are able to settle down because we know it’s hard to till land and cultivate crops.”
Neither Nebres nor Huang made mention of the agreement with SMFI.
Equally reticent was Peter Tuminhay, who told the congregation in Filipino:
“We believe we will get the land, but that is not the end. When the land is there, we have to [cultivate] it and we hope you will be there to guide us.
“There is much to be done … but we are hoping for your tireless support. You have become our family.”
Palace mum
Even Malacañang was mum on the case in which President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had taken a direct hand.
“Insofar as the Palace is concerned, it has done its part and it’s leaving it to the two parties to [firm up] the agreement,” said a Palace insider, who asked not to be named for lack of authority to speak on the matter.
But the source said that even before the Holy Week break, Malacañang was aware that the two parties were “already nearing an agreement.”
Thus, Palace officials were puzzled that “noise” was again being made on the issue, the source said.
The insider claimed to have received information that the “noise” was being sparked by a nongovernmental organization assisting the farmers.
“Maybe [the NGO] was trying to justify its receipt of a grant [from a donor] by bringing up the Sumilao issue again,” the insider said.
In December last year, Ms Arroyo authorized the issuance of an order reclassifying the agro-industrial property as agricultural land covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
Early this month, the farmers returned to Manila and conducted a “Jericho March” around Malacañang to demand their immediate installation as owners of the land.
Rosales’ parishioners
There are plans for Cardinal Rosales to travel to Sumilao this weekend to officiate at a thanksgiving Mass for the farmers who were his parishioners when he served as bishop of Malaybalay, Bukidnon, for nearly 10 years.
“He is willing, of course, but arrangements are not yet final,” Manila Archdiocese communications director Peachy Yamsuan told the Inquirer in a phone interview.
Rosales, 75, who celebrated his 50th anniversary as a priest Sunday, was instrumental in getting the contending parties to reach an agreement over the disputed land. “He really took it upon himself because the farmers were his parishioners in Malaybalay,” Yamsuan said.
Rosales appointed Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, who chairs the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ National Secretariat for Social Action, to head the Church Task Force on the Sumilao Case and to monitor the farmers’ plight.
It was Pabillo who relayed to SMFI the wishes of both Rosales and the farmers, Yamsuan said.
Told of the text message sent by SMC’s Ang to the Inquirer, Yamsuan said: “We are thankful for that, and also for the sense of justice and compassion of Mr. Ang.”
She said the SMC president and CEO should be given “credit” as well for understanding the farmers. With reports from Christine O. Avendaño and Nikko Dizon
