[asia-apec 1250] KMP: Farmers oppose landgrabbing via Charter change

[Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas]

KMP -- KILUSANG MAGBUBUKID NG PILIPINAS
(Peasant Movement of the Philippines)

NEWS RELEASE
12 August 1999

Danding Cojuangco corporatives hit
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               KMP opposes land sellout through Charter change

The militant farmers' group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) exposed 
Danding Cojuanco's "corporative" model of agrarian reform as a landgrabbing 
scheme to prepare big comprador-landlords like him in dealing with foreign 
monopolies once amendments to the Philippine constitution succeed in allowing 
100% foreign ownership of land.

  The peasant movement announced this in conjunction with plans to mobilize 
thousands of peasants nationwide on August 20 to join broad 
protests against charter change, attacks against press freedom, return of
the Marcos family and its cronies, and affronts to civil liberties.

KMP chair Rafael Mariano said the Estrada proposed charter change attacks
not only the Filipino's right to own land exclusively but will lay open the
entire agricultural sector to attack of trade liberalization, deregulation
and privatization.

Already, even small rice traders are joining the KMP in Mindanao in massive 
protests against the flooding of surplus rice and corn from Asian neighbors, 
which is expected to intensify after Estrada's constitution completely ties 
food security to liberalization of food imports.

Cojuanco's landholdings and leaseholds, conservatively measuring 100,000 
hectares, easily make him the biggest controller of contiguous plantations 
and public lands for raising exotic crops and livestock in partnership with 
multinational corporations.

Corporations are poised to buy and co-own lands or invest in agribusiness
with big landlords once President Estrada railroads the redrafting of the
Constitution through a charter change, despite his pledge to ban ownership
of farmlands by foreigners.

KMP chapters in Mindanao and Batangas say that the corporative scheme is 
only an extension of the prevailing policy in local Department of Agrarian
Reform (DAR) offices of cancelling certificates of land ownership awards
and emancipation patents (CLOAs and EPs).

These titles were previously granted to argrarian reform beneficiary 
associations (ARBAs) which were misled into believing that the parcels of
land will be transferred to them after paying amortizations to the
landlords in 25 years.

After being feeling betrayed, many of these ARBAs were either dissolved or 
have decided to join the regional formations of the KMP that refused
accepting 
CLOAs.

One of the biggest CLOA cancellation occurred in the 8,600-hectare Hacienda 
Looc, where the DAR canceled certificates covering 2,200 hectares despite 
the fact that relatively well-off peasants religiously paid amortizations to 
the Land Bank.

Angered peasants organized the Ugnayan ng mga Mamamayan Laban sa Pangwawasak 
ng Kalupaan sa Hacienda Looc (UMALPASKA). With KMP, they have learned to 
depend more on the strength of the organization rather than paper claims of 
the government.

DAR endorsed the corporative system since it was already described as early
as 1997 in the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) as "model
farms."

Mariano said the Danding model is one of the final tactics of the Estrada 
administration to cancel all pretenses to land distribution and allow 
monopolies to reconcentrate land ownership.

He said that the only alternative for the peasants and the people to get the 
nation out of crisis is not charter change but to build a patriotic
government of national unity which will imlement genuine land reform and
national 
industrialization. # # #