Members of militant organizations conducted a fact finding mission at Hacienda Ilimnan, Barangay Sta. Rosa, Murcia regarding the alleged dislocation of farmers in the area due to the procurement of land by the Provincial Government for its cattle and dairy farm. Initial findings of the team also disclosed that the properties bought by the province are mostly lands that are under petition for land reform and most of farmers in the area have Certificate of Land Ownership Awards (CLOA).
In a phone interview by NDB, Bayan Negros – Secretary General Christian Tuayon said that the land is owned by Alfonso Arguelles Sr. and was divided to three of his siblings namely; Gloria, George and Alfonso Arguelles Jr. The said property was declared by MARO of Murcia, Edwin Sanchez “unproductive” but the Fact Finding Team found otherwise as the land are planted with Sugar Cane and partials of land are being used as rice fields.
23 houses of farmers were demolished during the procurement of the land and were promised to get a job from the province amounting to P6,000 a month but later on farmers were made to plant napier grass and received a salary P1,500 for two weeks of work, Tuayon said. Only 17 workers were made to work for p58/day, Tuayon added.
Participating organizations that conducted the said Fact Finding Mission are; Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Negros, National Federation of Sugar Workers, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas and Gabriela. The team will present the fact finding report as soon as they are done with the collation of date and will meet members of the media to present the Fact Finding report.
“ The initial data gathered by the fact finding team today shows a discrepancy on the procurement of the property and the province was not able to provide work for the demolished and dislocated farmers to pave way for this government project”, Tuayon pointed out.#osb
