Tension grips Negros hacienda over installation of farmers

LA CASTELLANA, Negros Occidental – After more than 10 hours of tense negotiations, Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman finally installed the farmer-beneficiaries at the Hacienda Velez-Malaga in Barangay Robles here.

However, Pangandaman only installed 57 of the 122 beneficiaries at the 114-hectare property as his way of appeasing the workers allied with the Hacienda Malaga Independent Union and the Hacienda Malaga-Cuenca Multi-purpose Cooperative, who held a vigil at the periphery of the hacienda since 10 p.m. Wednesday after they received information that the government agency will enforce a midnight installation.

The 57 were only those who were recognized by the union as original tillers of the land. The rest of the holders of the Certificate of Land Ownership Awards are still being questioned.

Task Force Malaga members took possession of only 51 hectares but Pangandaman assured the union that the department will process the pending motions for reconsideration.

The farmers were installed at about 2:30 p.m., while members of the union were barred from the area which is only separated by a narrow road. The TFM beneficiaries, on the other hand, opted not to stay in the area obviously for fear of violence.

Combined forces of the 6th Regional Mobile Group and the 11th Infantry Brigade numbering close to 500 secured the area as early as midnight of Wednesday by putting up a human barricade at the La Castellana overflow, located one kilometer away from the Malaga farm.

On the other side of the property, families of workers also barricaded the entrance to the hacienda proper.

No vehicle was allowed in the area beginning 5:30 a.m., forcing residents and students of three sitios in Barangay Robles to walk kilometers to and from the town proper. Even the media was barred from entering the site but eventually gained entry inside the contested farm after residents guided them to another entry point.

Pangandaman, along with undersecretaries Narciso Nieto and Jeffrey Galan, regional officer Alexis Arsenal and provincial officer Stephen Leonidas, arrived at the area at about 9 a.m. and immediately met various commanders of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Regional Mobile Group for security measures.

He assured TFM members of installation before meeting with representatives of the union and coop who stood pat in their decision that a review should be conducted before any installation can be implemented.