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

Brgy. Binugao fails to give Aboitiz “resolution interposing no objection”

PRESS RELEASE
April 17, 2011

Brgy. Binugao fails to give Aboitiz “resolution interposing no objection”

Davao City – Brgy. Binugao on its session last Friday came up with a resolution supposedly to give Aboitiz a “resolution interposing no objection.” To the dismay of the council, Kagawad Flora Salandron declined to sign the resolution, strongly stating her opposition to Aboitiz’s proposed 300 MW coal fired power plant.

“Despite the absence of clear acceptability from among the residents of Binugao, their unanswered questions on the issues of coal’s negative impacts, the Brgy Council, save for me, issued a resolution with “dissenting opinion” on the proposed coal plant of Aboitiz,” said Kagawad Flora Salandron, member of the Binugao Brgy. Council and a staunch oppositor of the proposed CFPP.

She added, “All the health, environmental and economic costs of coal plant have been exchanged with mere 3 Million Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) that Aboitiz promised. But what is 3 Million compare to what it will cost on the health of poor residents who cannot even afford to pay for ‘paracetamol’ when they get sick. What is 3 Million IRA if the plant will cause damages to the resources in both marine and agricultural ecosystems that have economic and aesthetic values more than the said IRA?”

“The damage that the Coal Fired Power Plant will bring us is beyond repair,” she stressed.

Kag. Salandron’s opposition roused debate within the council. Salandron cited the Davao Zoning Ordinance and Barangay Development Plan (BDP) which classified Binugao as an agricultural area with light to medium industries. The coal plant, categorized as a heavy industry and environmentally critical project, has therefore no legal basis to be constructed within Binugao, unless Aboitiz convinces the City Council to reclassify the area.

Meanwhile, the Nagkahiusang Katawhan sa Binugao Alang sa Panginabuhian ug Kinaiyahan or NAGPAKABANA, the local peoples’ organization in Binugao, questioned the lack of public discussions as basic processes to come up with the people’s informed decision.

“Since we are from the coal plant site, there should be massive educational discussion on the impact of the coal-fired power plant. If the barangay or Aboitiz in sincere in consulting the people about this critical issue, why is there a community ”gag” in terms of the truth about coal fired power plants,” said Rody Arellano of NAGPAKABANA.

PANALIPDAN – Southern Mindanao also raised the ethical issues behind the pabaon and other attempts of blackmail by Aboitiz, saying this should be settled first before Abotiz demands any favorable endorsement from the barangay and the city council.

“Aboitiz has the guts to say that they can simply transfer to Brgy. Inawayan if the people of Davao rejects the coal plant. This does not address the people’s strong morale ground to oppose their deadly coal project. This is beyond territorial or geographical issues. Davaoenos remain to be threatened by the impact of coal even if it is constructed in Inawayan. We share the same air, water, seas. And we are all bound to suffer from Aboitiz’s coal project as it poses to exacerbate the impacts of climate change,” said Francis Morales, secretary general of PANALIPDAN and co-convener of the Network Opposed to COAL – DAVAO.

“We will strongly oppose coal-fired power plant to be installed elsewhere in the country,” he concluded.

FOR REFERENCE:
KAG. FLORA SALANDRON

FRANCIS MORALES

0939-4818848

LUMADS PICKET QUIBOLOY KINGDOM AGAINST LANDGRABBING

PRESS RELEASE

April 25, 2011

Davao City --- Angered by latest attempts of landgrabbing, Bagobo Klata lumads from farflung Sitio Kahusayan, Brgy. Manuel Guianga trooped to the city and staged a picket rally infront of the Pastor Apollo Quiboloy’s ‘kingdom’ consisting of a gigantic school, office and mansion near the International airport here.

Last week, the Kahugpungan sa Lumad sa Kahusayan (KSL) reported that three backhoes escorted by members of the 84th IB of the Philippine Army arrived in Kahusayan, around 50 km from downtown Davao, to bulldoze the ancestral lands of slain Kahusayan Datu Dominador Diarog and pave the way for a gherkins (small cucumber) plantation on the said land that is being claimed by Quiboloy.

“This intensified attack on our ancestral lands is a palpable act of greed by a landlord to acquire vast tracts of lands for his profit. We have already lost thousands of hectares of our ancestral lands when Quiboloy’s prayer mountain was constructed in 1999. Now we stand to be completely driven away from the small piece of land where we were pushed to stay, as Quiboloy’s pine trees and fences take over our traditional farms, place of worship and hunting grounds,” said Diolito Diarog, council member of KSL and Deputy Secretary General of PASAKA, regional confederation of lumads.

Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, the patriarch of the religious sect Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name, has occupied 5,000 hectares within a supposed protected area of Mt. Apo. Quiboloy’s Kingdom covers portions of Brgy. Tamayong, Brgy. Manuel Guianga, Brgy.Sirib, Brgy. Carmen in Davao City. Another forty hectares are occupied by Quiboloy’s pine tree plantation.

Widow of Datu Diarog, Emily Diarog lamented, “This April 29, we are about to commemorate the 3rd death anniversary of our tribal leader but instead of the justice that we seek, we are again faced with even greater threats of losing the land that he died for. This we cannot allow, even if I, my children or our tribe lose our lives to defend our land.”

Datu Diarog’s family and relatives believe that it was at the behest of the influential pastor that the Datu was killed. An attempted massacre on the evening of April 29 had ended the life of Datu Diarog leading also to the injury of his wife, and two children.

Kahusayan lumads have long been seeking the help of the local government and the Commission on Human Rights to dismantle the fences that Quiboloy has put up around “his” so-called kingdom as annointed Son of God, pushing the Bagobo Klata tribe of Sitio Kahusayan to occupy a mere 5-hectare lot in the foothills of Mt. Apo.

“Apo Sandawa passed on to us the stewardship to cultivate and protect these lands. Our forefathers have died faithful to this inheritance of stewardship. Datu Diarog’s death will not be in vain. We shall continue the struggle he committed his life to,” stated Diolito Diarog.

The Diarog family challenged the Davao City local government to strongly implement the resolutions, one of which is the status quo, after the Kahusayan residents urged Pastor Quiboloy to dismantle the fences that has deprived the Kahusayan lumads of their lands. #

FOR REFERENCE:

Diolito Diarog
Deputy Secretary General
PASAKA

Contact Number: 09303035126