Farmers under the Tubajon Farmers Association (TUFA) hold a protest in front of the Ayala Corporation’s office in Cagayan De Oro City on Monday, October 23, 2017 for allegedly failing to compensate the farmers after they agreed to the conversion of the land they were occupying in Barangay Tubajon, Laguindingan town in Misamis Oriental. (Photo courtesy of Radyo ni Juan Network)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – Reacting to the accusations by a group of farmer-residents, Ayala Corporation (AC) has maintained that contrary to what has been alleged, it has kept its promise of providing the displaced community members with the benefit package.
Yla Patricia Alcantara, of the AC corporate communications, said in an e-mail sent on Wednesday that the company has already made an agreement with the residents.
“This was settled years ago and we have not heard of any complaints from those that accepted the package and have moved on,” Alcantara said.
The issue stemmed from the allegation from the Tubajon Farmers Association (TFA) that AC reneged on its promise to provide them with the benefits after they consented to the conversion of the land they were occupying in Barangay Tubajon, Laguindingan town in Misamis Oriental.
“In connection with the [Department of Agrarian Reform] conversion of AC’s lands in Laguindingan from agricultural to industrial (parts of which AC donated to the Government and which became the site of the Laguindingan Airport) DA, after ocular inspections came up with a list of 438 qualified beneficiaries,” Alcantara said.
She said a memorandum of agreement was signed between the beneficiaries and AC providing for benefits for the beneficiaries.
“Since then, 415 of the 438 DAR listed and qualified beneficiaries have availed of the package. The offer remains open for the 23 beneficiaries,” she added.
In an interview on Wednesday, Oct. 25, TFA chairman Efren Jaramillo, insisted that the company failed to provide with the disturbance compensation for the relocated residents.
Jaramillo said other benefits that were promised to them include relocation, job opportunities, livelihood, and moving allowance.
He said until now AC has yet to give the reparation due them.
In a separate interview Wednesday, Roger Plana, Misamis Oriental Farmers Association (MOFA) coordinator, has urged the AC to pay the protesting beneficiaries citing decisions from the Court of Appeals (CA) and the Supreme Court (SC) as bases for their demand for payment.
The SC ruling came out in 2013. Plana said both the CA and SC have ruled upholding the position of the dozens of the TFA members.
He said the peasants used to occupy parts of the 602 hectares owned by AC, which they vacated after it was converted from agricultural to industrial.
Jaramillo said they were relocated by the Laguindingan municipal government. (davaotoday.com)
