ORMOC CITY – A large squatting syndicate that has previously victimized thousands of land owners and urban poor residents in Metro Manila is now operating in Ormoc, threatening to eject farmers that were issued titles under the government’ s comprehensive agrarian reform program.

The syndicate is armed with spurious documents including a land title that covers the entire Philippine archipelago, some court rulings on the supposed claim to ownership, and numerous other deeds of sale and certificates of donation of land taken from the mother title.

It has also brought in some men claiming to be“ lumads” to help recruit locals who are willing to pay a membership and monthly fees in exchange for a promise that they will get a parcel of land that is already covered by a Certificate of Land Ownership Award given the agrarian reform beneficiaries.

The syndicate is said to be headed by a certain Danny Degorio, supposedly a resident of Lake Danao and Brg. Mahayag where he also victimized farmers into giving him money in exchange for the land that they were tilling.

“ They are simply land grabbers masquerading as lumads,” says Rina Reyes, local coordinator of Rights Network, a nongovernment organization advocating for land rights for farmers and urban poor. Its local affiliate, Katarungan Eastern Visayas, has helped Bugho Farmers Association( BFA) reclaim their farmland covered by CLOA.

Rosenda Apay, president of BFA, said the“ lumads” would often harass them and threaten their members that they will be driven out of the farmland when the police pulls out from the area. She also received a threat in her Facebook page with a comment“ isang bala ka lang.”

But for 79-years old Esperanza Rebise, she said she no longer very much affected with all the treats and harassments they have been receiving.“ I have seen them all. We have fought for this land for a long time and we are not about to give this up,” she said.

“ What I want is for everybody to just follow the orders of the Department of Agrarian Reform. This land is awarded to us. We have already gave a part of this land as a compromise because DAR thinks this is the best way to live in peace. We will fight to keep what is remaining,” she said.

Land for the landless At the heart of the conten-

Some of the syndicate’ s victims

tion is a 25-hectares ricefield tilled by 21 members of BFA, which is a part of the 46-hectares that DAR originally awarded to them in 1998. The property was formerly owned by the late Teofilo Fran and was planted with sugarcane where the beneficiaries work as farm laborers until it was abandoned.

When the 46 hectares were awarded to them, other farmworkers also asked to be included in the DAR listing of beneficiaries. They formed the Fran Farm Workers Association( FFWA) to bolster their claim for inclusion in the CLOA.

On April 8, 2002, while BFA members were harvesting their grown rice, two sixby-six vehicles loaded with 40 unidentified men with long fire arms from the 19th Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army based in Barangay Agiting, Municipality of Kananga arrived.

According to Apay, the military men aimed their guns at them. Because of fear, they left their harvest and their farm. An officer then of FFWA reportedly informed the 19th IB, PA that the farmers are members of the New People’ s Army( NPA).

On April 30, 2015, BFA took a stand and decided to take back the 25-hectare land which was awarded to them and installed themselves as owners of the land.

Conflict among members of the two contesting organizations went on until DAR came up with a“ compromise agreement,” giving 25 hectares to BFA and 21 hectares to FFWA to be shared by its 71 members.

While some members of FFWA abide by the agreement, others are not happy and the discontent of some individuals was exploited by the Manila-based land grabbing syndicate.

Deceitful Tallano claims

In an effort to deceive the farmers, the syndicate is showing them a copy of Certificate of Title No. 01-4 issued by the“ Royal Government of England” on January

BFA president Rosenda Apay: Harassed by“ lumads”

17, 1764 declaring the entire archipelago as Hacienda Filipina owned a certain Prince Lacan Acuña, whose one supposed heir is Julian Tallano.

They also have a copy of a decision made by Pasay City Judge Ernesto Reyes dated July 7, 1997, July 11, 2001 and Oct. 8, 2001 which recognizes the Tallano claim as well as the temporary restraining order issued by the Court of Appeals on the Pasay City court ruling.

The farmers are made to believe that once a final court decision is made on Tallano’ s favor, they will be awarded with the land that is presently being tilled by members of BFA.

But for the farmers to qualify, they are asked to pay a membership fee of P2,500 and an undetermined monthly dues supposedly to defray expenses in processing the papers so they will get the 25-hectares land of BFA. No receipt is issued for the said payment.

Apay said that last year, the syndicate collected P8,000 from each recruited member to cover the cost of travel of its leaders to Mindanao to gather support from other Lumads.

The Tallano syndicate is one the eight biggest squatting syndicates in the country under the watchlist of Philippine National Police.

It made headlines in 2007 when Julian Tallano filed a plunder case against former president Joseph Estrada for the“ Erap City” mass housing project in Montalban, Rizal which he claims to own.#

Elmer V. Recuerdo

TACLOBAN CITY – Leyte businessmen believe that the plan to put up a transshipment hub in Babatngon will address unemployment problems in the region as well as lower prices of basic commodities.

“ This is a very good plan and will benefit the region. It is about time that we have another port aside from our port in Tacloban,” says businessman Wilson Uy, president of Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Leyte-Tacloban.

“ The business community has been pushing for this. We have previously made representation at the Regional Development Council to include setting up a port in Babatngon as part of the regional plan,” he said.

On December 20, the RDC approved a proposal that a feasibility study be made for a possible seaport in Babatngon. The Philippine Ports Authority was also tasked to come up with a masterplan of a possible transshipment port in Babatngon. Both of these are expected to be completed within the year.

Uy said that having a port in Babatngon bring in raw materials for industries that may be put up here and will generate a much needed employment especially

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte( PIA) – The annual employment rate in Eastern Visayas slightly rose to 95.5 percent last year as compared from 94.6 percent in 2015. Out of the estimated 3.0 million population aged 15 years old and over in 2016, 1.9 million individuals are economically active or in the labor force.

Wilma Perante, regional director of the Philippine Statistics Authority( PSA) in the region disclosed that said figure can be translated to an annual labor force participation rate of 62.1 percent. Among the regions in the country, Eastern Visayas posted the third lowest annual labor force participa-

in Tacloban’ s northern barangays where some 15,000 families will be moved in the next three years.

“ Our problem here is the entry of raw materials. We cannot attract industries to invest here because they cannot bring in raw materials. If we have a port in Babatngon, we can invite investors from China and other Asian countries to put up manufacturing plants. As it is now, we cannot bring in big ships to dock in Tacloban port,” he said.

Ships bound for Tacloban have problems traversing the narrow and shallow San Juanico Strait to reach the regional center.

Babatngon is only 22 kilometers north of Tacloban. The Tacloban North Agro-Industrial Economic Zone, the 13.4 hectare economic zone, is half-way between Babatngon and the city proper.

Uy said this also facilitate easier access in transporting good to the region that may result to lowering of prices of basic goods and services.

He cited the entry of oil depot in Babatngon to illustrate his point.“ When oil companies set-up oil depots in Babatngon, the price of fuel in Tacloban went down. Our prices is now competitive, oil here is cheaper than in Cebu and Manila,” he said.#

tion rate and sits at par with Central Luzon.

Meanwhile, it is estimated by the Philippine Statistics Authority( PSA) that 412 thousand persons are considered as underemployed. Underemployed workers can be divided into several categories. The most common types are those skilled workers in low-paying jobs, skilled workers in low-skill jobs and part-time workers preferring full-time hours.

Said figure is equivalent to 28.3 percent underemployment rate which was lower than the 31.7 percentage that was posted a year ago. With this record, the region had the third highest underemployment rate in the country.#