TFM farmers installed

It could have been just a routine installation of the 57 agrarian reform beneficiaries of Task Force Mapalad Thursday. This was at Hacienda Velez-Malaga in Barangay Robles, La Castellana, Negros Occidental.

But what had been agreed upon to be a peaceful process ended up in an uproar, plus stone-throwing and recriminations, when Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman stealthily led the installation of the TFM ARBs early Wednesday morning.

What shocked Negrenses was the fact that 245 members of the 6th Regional Mobile Group, headed by Senior Superintendent Pedro Merced, and some 100 soldiers blocked access to the bridge leading to the hacienda. This raised an outcry from schoolchildren and their parents because the students failed to go to school for their final examinations.

Pangandaman himself had to run away when stones, thrown by members of the workers’ union, flew thick and fast. He sought refuge in a car.

But the tension has not ebbed neither at Hacienda Velez-Malaga nor outside. Negros Occidental Gov. Joseph Marañon blew his top upon learning from radio reports that Pangandaman had failed to coordinate that controversial move with him or La Castellana Mayor Enrico Elumba.

Elumba pointed out: "You enter the area without coordination and leave us with the mess."

"We will not let him do that to us again!" stressed Marañon to local mediamen.

And, yes, worse Merced’s men denied local mediamen access to the area, invoking "orders" for them to bar local journalists from covering the installation of the TFM members.

DAR Undersecretary Narciso Nieto claimed that the TFM farmers had waited for 11 years for the installation and five years of negotiations were just too much.

Wednesday was not the first time Pangandaman failed to coordinate with Marañon. Almost two weeks ago, Marañon also blew his top when Pangandaman failed to inform him about his presence here and what he was going to do.

He called Pangandaman "disrespectful" for failing to coordinate with provincial authorities and local government officials on their activity at the hacienda.

Board member Reynaldo Depasucat said Pangandaman could be charged for violating the ethical standards governing the conduct of government officials.

Cases against Merced

Landowner Roberto Cuenca, leaders of the Hacienda Malaga Independent Workers’ Union and the members of the multipurpose cooperative said yesterday they are filing charges against those responsible for the installation on Wednesday.

The respondents will include Pangandaman who spearheaded the installation. Also to be included are members of the DAR team that went to the hacienda and members of the 6th Regional Mobile Group, headed by Merced.

Mario Diaz, Cuenca’s lawyer, said the government officials committed contempt of court by installing the TFM members despite pending cases before the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court involving the land reform coverage.

Other charges are also being contemplated to be filed in court and before the Ombudsman, Diaz added.

Another complaint will be lodged with the Commission on Human Rights, according to union leader Roger Miravalles.

Pangandaman said only 53 beneficiaries were TFM members since four others had defected to the union and the cooperative.

Actually the union members or Cuenca no longer contested the 53 installed. The rest of the 122 still have to be reviewed.

Actually, they were just confined to only five hectares adjacent to the 10-hectare portion that their group had been occupying since 2002.

Merced, on the other hand, finds himself in an awkward situation. He has to contend with the mediamen whom his men had barred from covering the event, invoking the classic "those are my orders."

Incidentally, he is also facing charges with the Ombudsman for his group’s participation in the forcible ejection of Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas from the Iloilo provincial capitol recently.

The situation continued to simmer yesterday. But one thing is definitely going to happen. Marañon said he would bring Pangandaman’s unilateral action to the attention of President Arroyo.

Marañon earlier had batted for expansion of the Agrarian Reform Provincial Task Force to include the provincial government and local executives. His point: local officials are the ones who know the exact situation in their respective areas. And, yes, more important is that they are ones who would be called upon to solve the mess that usually ensues when national officials leave local areas where they had created disturbances.

Iggy gag order from the court

Rep. Ignacio Arroyo, presidential brother-in-law, reportedly refused yesterday to answer questions about his family, especially on his daughter and his estranged wife, Alicia, who formerly chaired the Philippine Stock Exchange.

But that did not stop the media from learning that the Quezon City court granted Mrs. Arroyo’s request for a protection order barring the lawmaker from coming within 100 meters of her, their nine-year-old daughter and their maids.

It also barred Arroyo from coming close to the house of his wife, and the school of his daughter.

The lawmaker and his agents were also prohibited from tailing, harassing, and communicating with Mrs. Arroyo, his wife, and daughter.

Mrs. Arroyo earlier told the court that her life was in danger from her husband. The lawmaker denied Alicia’s allegations, including her claim that Ignacio has an affair with a certain Grace Ibuna.

Mrs. Arroyo also filed a case for joint custody of their nine-year-old daughter in January. Another hearing is set on March 29.

New abaca use promising

Very often, the din of political exchanges tends to overshadow some exciting developments of the economy.

And that was the case of the reported use of abaca fiber mixed with concrete developed by the Silliman University extension program in Bais City, Oriental Negros.

Mayor Hector Villanueva of Bais City reportedly said that the new abaca fiber mix is 50 percent stronger that ordinary concrete products such as hollow blocks.

A Korean investor reportedly has expressed interest in adopting the technology. The investor is importing raw abaca products from Bais and intends to assemble the fiber concrete in Korea.

The contract with Bais City will be finalized by the middle of the year, Villanueva disclosed.

He has already informed Oriental Negros Gov. George Arnaiz about this development. Villanueva also told Arnaiz that the new fiber concrete products are now being used at the Gawad Kalinga housing project in Bais City. Local residents have been trained to make hollow blocks from the new fiber concrete mix.

Now, that’s a breakthrough that may lead to increased production of abaca, which is traditionally used only in ropes and clothing.