QUEZON City, April 8, 2012—The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) urged the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to sequester and distribute the lands of Filipino mogul Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, which he has obtained by the arbitrary use of the coco levy funds during Marcos’ time.
In a statement, Pamalakaya national chairman Fernando “Ka Pando” Hicap said, President Benigno C. Aquino III’s uncle had obtained a relatively huge chunks of land in Central Luzon and in Bugsuk, Pandanan, Matanglue and Gabung, all in Palawan Islands, through the use of coconut levy funds, sheer violence, influence peddling and manipulation during the term of former President Ferdinand Marcos, referred to as the “Dictator”.
“If we go back in history, Danding had entered an agreement with Marcos, with the condition that the former would get 10 hectares of land for every hectare he would give up to the national government. The deal was signed on January 5, 1973 between Danding and Marcos’ agriculture and natural resources ministers at that time,” Hicap said. The lands are to be used as coconut seed farms.
According to the book, Some are Smarter Than Others, The History of Marcos Crony Capitalism, written by Ricardo Manapat, the chairman of the present San Miguel Corporation, by the virtue of the said agreement, had obtained some 14,673.3 hectares of land, with 10,821.23 hectares in Bugsuk alone.
“At the start, the agreement only covered 6,980.73 hectares of Bugsuk Island, but a special lease agreement was entered into by parties to cover another 3,852 hectares. As part of the agreement, Cojuangco was supposed to hand over his rice and sugar lands in the provinces of Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan and Occidental Mindoro in exchange for Bugsuk and other underdeveloped lands in South Palawan but he never fulfilled his part of the deal,” the Pamalakaya chief said.
“Furthermore, aside from Bugsuk Island, Cojuangco’s partnership with Marcos allowed him to buy agricultural lands with depressed prices including but not limited to the 700-hectare Hacienda Bonifacia in Bago City, Negros Occidental, Hacienda Fe and three other Haciendas in La Carlota City covering 2,400 hectares, four haciendas in Pontevedra (1,085 hectares), four farms in La Castellana totaling 2,570 hectares, 300 hectare property in Mansilingan, Bacolod City, several hundred hectares of fish pond in Sta. Margarita, Samar, 5, 210 hectares in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur, the 11,000 hectare Hacienda Santa Isabel in Ilagan, Isabela and 2,085 hectare hacienda San Antonio also in Ilagan, Isabela,” said Hicap.
Hicap said that the DAR should also take over other Danding lands for free land distribution that include Hacienda Nieva in Himalayan, Negros Occidental, Inampolugan Island in Guimaras, cacao and coconut plantations in Guihing in Davao del Sur, the two cacao plantations and a prawn far in Malita, Davao del Sur, cocoa, coconut and palm plantations in Agusan del Norte and Davao and other prime agricultural lands used by Danding for fish and prawn farm, coconut, sugar and cocoa plantations in Pampanga, Tarlac, Negros Occidental, Davao provinces, Bohol, Palawan and Agusan.
“Just like the Hacienda Luisita, Danding’s lands were exempted from land reform through anti-farmer laws like CARL and CARPer, using the stocks distribution option (SDO) as shield,” the fisherfolk leader said. [Noel Sales Barcelona/CBCPNews]