By EUGENE ADIONG
BACOLOD City — Some 30 farmers from haciendas Ilimnan and Arloc in Brgy. Sta. Rosa, Murcia town, accused Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. of conniving with Murcia Municipal Agrarian Reform Officer Edwin Sanchez in “hiding” certificates of landownership award (CLOAs) supposedly issued to them.
They staged a rally in front of the provincial capitol building yesterday.
Bayan–Negros secretary Christian Tuayon, who was with the farmers, said the sugarcane farms were classified as “prime agricultural land.”
Forty-two farmer-beneficiaries applied for Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) coverage for the 155-hectare Hacienda Ilimnan in 1993, he said.
“In 1998, the farmers signed an application to purchase and farmers undertaking (APFU), while in 2008, the DAR (Department of Agrarian Reform) approved their CLOAs covering 54 hectares of the total land area,” he said.
In 2000, 24 beneficiaries of the neighboring Hacienda Arloc petitioned the DAR for a CLOA and in 2004, they also signed an APFU, he said.
The farmers accused Sanchez of hiding the CLOAs, which they said they discovered only in 2011. They said Sanchez issued a certification that the haciendas were not covered by CARP despite knowing that they are, and the provincial agrarian reform officer did nothing about it.
Provincial Legal Officer Jose Ma. Valencia yesterday maintained that the properties were not covered by any CLOA when the capitol bought them for the Negros First Ranch.
“We have already submitted documents to DAR (central office) to prove the legality of capitol’s claims,” he said.
The rally came on the heels of the filing of charges against Marañon and two other capitol officials over the purchase of the Murcia properties.
Charged before the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman Visayas along with him were Provincial Treasurer Nilda Generoso and Provincial Engineer Ernie Mapa.
Roger Reyes, a lawyer, accused them of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Building Code of the Philippines and the Government Procurement Reform Act, and committing technical malversation.
Marañon said the charges were politically motivated, filed by the same people who made similar allegations in the past.
“[The case] will not stop us from pursuing development projects for the good of the people of Negros Occidental,” he said./PN
