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Bukidnon land dispute shows failure of agrarian reform – Anakpawis

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Bukidnon land dispute shows failure of agrarian reform – Anakpawis


“We are alarmed that CMU, a center for education and formation of values, by its actions, is promoting a teaching of values that contradicts the intention of social justice. By denying the farmers the land that is very much attached to their lives, the CMU has become a despotic landlord rather than an educational institution.” – solidarity mission
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com

MARAMAG, Bukidnon — For Winnie Loable, 36, their struggle for the land they have been tilling is not just a matter of securing the future of his family, it is also about honoring his father and seeking justice for his death.
“Like us, they, too, were fighting for our right to till our land,” Loable said, “Winning our agrarian dispute will not only assure my children of a better future but it would also be my way of giving honor to my father’s life and struggle.”


The BTL farmers wish they could win the agrarian dispute for their children’s future (Photo by Janess Ann J. Ellao / bulatlat.com)
Leonardo, Loable’s father, was among those who were hired by the Central Mindanao University to till parts of the 3,084 hectares of land. The agricultural workers made the idle lands productive by planting it with rice. When the CMU went bankrupt, the farmers continued to cultivate the land and paid a rental fee per square meter.

In 1986, peasants formed Buffalo (Bukidnon Free Farmers and Agricultural Laborers Organization) and petitioned for the inclusion of the 1,200 hectares of the 3,084 hectares of land they were tilling in the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program of former President Cory Aquino. Two more groups of farmers formed Tamaraw (Triad Agricultural Manpower of Rural Active Workers) and Limus (Landless Tillers Inhabitants of Musuan) respectively, and staked their claim on another 1,200 hectares of land. Hence, when these three groups of farmers banded together, they called themselves BTL.

While waiting for the Certificate of Land Ownership Award, which was consequently awarded in 1992 and cancelled 10 years later, peasants regularly held protest actions..... http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/07/05/land-dispute-between-farmers-and-university-officials-in-bukidnon-shows-failure-of-agrarian-reform-anakpawis/MORE

SourceBulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/07/05/land-dispute-between-farmers-and-university-officials-in-bukidnon-shows-failure-of-agrarian-reform-anakpawis/

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