Support the Sumilao farmers' March for Land

Ten years ago, 15 farmers of the Mapadayong Panaghiusa Sa Mga Lumad Alang Sa Damplag (MAPALAD) of Sumilao, Bukidnon came to Manila for a 28-day hunger strike at the Department of Agrarian (DAR) office in Quezon City.

After calling for the redistribution of 144 hectares of their ancestral land controlled by the Norberto Quisumbing Sr. Management and Development Corporation (NQSRMDC), they were awarded 100 hectares by then-president Fidel V. Ramos, while the remaining 44 went to NQSRMDC. The Supreme Court shortly nullified the decision.

In 2004, after the NQSRMDC's stalled development, San Miguel Foods Inc. bought the land from the Quisumbings to put up a piggery farm. This despite a petition filed by the Sumilao farmers for the cancellation of the conversion order, that would allow the irrigated land to be converted from agricultural to agro-industrial property.

To this day, barred by electric fences and armed security, they remain outsiders to their own land.

The Sumilao farmers are again demanding that the conversion order be cancelled, and the land that is rightfully theirs returned. Last October 10, 2007, 10 years since their first mass protest in Manila, they began a 60-day 'March for Land' from Mindanao to Visayas and Luzon joined by other farmers from the regions. With this plea for land ownership to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is an appeal for the passage of HB 1257, a bill to extend and reform the current Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), so that no other Filipino farmer may suffer as they have.

As legal co-counsel to the Sumilao farmers and co-drafters of HB 1257, SALIGAN believes in this fight, and that it could be won with you in it.

You may take part in this historic campaign in the following ways:
1. Make a financial contribution.
2. Sign the petition and spread the word to strengthen their plea to the President.
3. Join the March for Land in Manila on December 10, 2007.

Visit sumilaomarch.multiply.com or e-mail saliganphilippines@gmail.com for more information.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• sumilao
• march
• carp
• philippines
• hb
• 1257
• gloria
• macapagal-arroyo
• saligan
• nocturnal
• we
• pakisama

[jamesbv34]

Sumilao farmers are wrong my grandfather worked for the previous owners which is Norberto Quisumbing. In the end the Sumilao farmers are stealing land

[truevoice08]

Agrarian reform is really a 'pro-poor' policy. By pro-poor I mean it PROmotes POVERTY. Unjust ownership of land could easily be solved on a case to case basis through the court system. But noooo! The communists cannot distinguish between rightly owned property and unjustly owned property. They are obsessed with material equality which can only be achieved through violence and is therefore, immoral.

[carlit0o24]

isa pa, sobrang kalokohan yang bill na pinasa ni joey lina.. na nagkaroon ng rights ang squatters.. putangina.. na pag nagka squatter sa lupa mo e hindi mo basta basta pwdeng paalisin.. ano yun? kailangan ihanap mo pa ng relocation at bigyan ng pera.. putangina kalokohan! unfair naman sa may-ari ng lupa.. putangina kapal ng mukha ng mahihirap na yan..

[carlit0o24]

fuck those sumilao farmers, and other farmers who thinks that they have the right to own the land they farm.. kapal ng mukha ng mga yan.. porket ba sinasaka nila yung lupa e dapat mapunta na sa kanila.. dude.. parang squatter porket ba nakatira na kayo ng matagal sa lupa e sa inyo na dapat? tangina niyo.. those who support these farmers are dumb.. kung sa inyo yung lupa, papayag ba kayo na mapunta sa mga farmer na yan.. dude logic lng! fuck agrarian reform..

[3876LIZ9879]

The government is making SURE that it stays where it is right now. They're just like most Filipinos belonging to the upper society during Spanish times. They SUCK. They make laws for themselves; they have seen what the countryside really looked like yet they ignore it. they only develop those already "developed" (uh, in pinoy standards) areas like the metropolitan districts, etc. why do you people think we can't produce enough rice for our people?

[3876LIZ9879]

it's a pity MANY filipinos have not seen the REAL situation of the country. for one, agriculture is the PREMIERE, FIRST, #1, MAJOR, CAPITAL (and so forth) economic backbone of our country. what the government is doing now does nothing but destroy agriculture, make the farmers (and the poor in general) MORE DEPENDENT on the government. Dependent people are weak, hence, cannot fight back.

[40510110]

The sumilao farmers and those who support them are obstacles to progress. It is good that the land be converted to agro-industrial so that it would yield more income and be better for the economy. The Sumilao Farmers are not savvy in business and would just waste the land. LONG LIV PROGRESS! DOWN WITH THE SUMILAO FARMERS! PURO DRAMA. PURO ARTE.

[meloooooooong]

bakit ayaw nyo mag rally sa san mig corp,bkit kay glo.kau rally

[may22princess]

tsk!tsk!tsk!

[1961norala]

the supreme court stripped the farmers of their legal right for lack of legal standing. executive office screwed the plaintiff. and now the case is handle by DAR. farmers in hacienda luisita failed, farmers in negros island don't do squat, farmers in panay island was put into submission. reality is that poor will get poorer and rich will get richer. walking north is a blatant show of force, perhaps, farmers may gain merit on their claim.