Friday, May 20, 2011

Mandug farmers face displacement

PRESS RELEASE
May 20, 2011

Davao City – More than 50 peasant households occupying more than 14 hectares of lands in Sitio Fatima, Brgy. Mandug fear looming displacement in light of the titling of their farmlands by the Cabaguio family, an influential family here.

“The Cabaguio family has acquired a land title to around 14 hectares in Sito Fatima only in 2006, but the earliest settlers here have tilled these lands since 1957. When we came here, the place was a marshland,” lamented Pepito Cipriano in the vernacular, whose family was among the pioneering families in the area.

“We were the ones who cultivated these lands, now because of a piece of paper held by a rich family from Davao, we are doomed to be displaced,” he added.

Cipriano recalls that Brgy. Mandug, Buhangin District became the relocation site of Martial Law human rights violations victims in the late 50’s. But the larger part of the settlers came in at around the 80’s.

According to Davao City census, as of 2000, Brgy. Mandug has a population of 2400 households. A large portion of the lands is still primarily agricultural, although it is classified as a Planned Development Unit, or mixed land use zone.

To date however, majority of its population in the northern part are farmers, who depend solely on farming for a living.

The “patriarch” as he was referred to by the old families in Sitio Fatima, also said that the Cabaguio family has been demanding 25% of their harvests. They however found out that the Cabaguio family does not have any title yet.

On May 2006, after the Cabaguio family acquired a title, leaders of the local farmers’ organization in the area, Mandug Farmers Association (MAFA), sat down in a dialogue with the representatives of the Cabaguio family, and the Bureau of Lands, claiming official ownership of the 14-hectare land that more than 50 households have occupied for more than 30 years.

During the dialogue, the Cabaguios said they will not ask farmers to leave, only that they cannot be allowed to farm anymore.

“Maguuma mi tungod sa pagtikad namo sa yuta diin nagasalig ang amoang pamilya aron mabuhi. Unsaon mi mabuhi kung dilian mi nga magtikad og yuta?” said Ali Pojas, chair of the peasant group MAFA, and brother of the late farmer leader Celso Pojas, slain three years ago by alleged members of the military.

Pojas added: “Tungod sa among kahimtang ron, mas nasabtan namo nganong nakigbisog si Celso alang sa katungod sa yuta alang sa mag-uuma, dili mi mosugot nga walaon ang among katungod nga mag-uma. Ipadayon namo ang gisugdan nga pakigbisog ni Celso.”

Pojas also criticized the government for failing to distribute lands to farmers.

“Napamatud-an namo nga pakyas ang agrarian reform law sa gubyerno. Kung tinuod nga ginalantaw sa gubyerno ang amoang kaayuhan, nganong kami nga naa diri mismo sa Davao City hangtod karon wala’y kaseguruhan sa yuta, ug gitagaan pa gyud og titulo ang usa ka ma-impluwensya nga tao. Mas daghan man unta mi nga nagabenepisyo karon sa kini nga yuta, nganong, ipaangkon man ni sa usa lang ka-pamilya,” stated Pojas.
ALI POJAS
0928-6529509

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