The Supreme Court has ordered Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman and eight others to show cause why they should not be cited for contempt of court for the installation of Task Force Mapalad beneficiaries in Hacienda Velez Malaga, La Castellana, on March 22 despite a pending case.

Mario Diaz, lawyer of landowner Roberto Cuenca, said yesterday that the SC en banc, in a resolution dated June 5 but received by him on July 13, issued the order to Pangandaman, DAR Undersecretary Narciso Nieto, DAR Undersecretary Jeffrey Galan, DAR Regional Director Alexis Arsenal, former Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer Stephen Leonidas, PNP Regional Director Supt. Reynaldo Rafal, Col. Jess Manangquil - 11th Infantry Battalion commander, Senior Supt. Pedro Merced - 6th Regional Mobile Group commander, and La Castellana Police Chief Senior Inspector Regidor Alvarado. Diaz said the SC by taking cognizance of their motion for contempt, affirms their position that the conflict at Hacienda Velez Malaga may be best resolved by waiting for the final decision of the Supreme Court on the pending case docketed as GR. No. 174163.

"We now ask Secretary Pangandaman to explain to the public his usual line of defense that there is no more legal impediment to installing the TFM farmer beneficiaries," Diaz said.

There are legal impediments and we will take drastic actions before the competent courts against those who will defy the lawful orders of the SC, he also said.

Cuenca will file before the Ombudsman charges for violations of the Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Act against Pangandaman and the eight others for taking action in Velez Malaga despite a pending case before the SC, Diaz said.

This is because it has caused undue injury to other farmer beneficiaries who are not members of TFM, Diaz said

Diaz also claimed that Pangadaman has given unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference to TFM members through manifest partiality, evident bad fate and inexcusable negligence and should be liable under Paragraph E Section 3 of Republic Act 219 or the Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

NO CONTEMPT: DAR

But Pangandaman yesterday said DAR is not a party to the case pending before the Supreme Court, it is Task Force Mapalad who questioned before the SC a Court of Appeals ruling on Velez Malaga.

So, as far as DAR is concerned, there is no legal impediment to its actions, he said.

He said the DAR and the police officials at the installation did not act in contempt and there are no grounds for the filing of charges against them before the Ombudsman.

When we installed the farmers at Velez Malaga we were just doing our job and Diaz is misleading the public, Pangandaman said.

Even if the lower court cancelled the DAR issued Certificate of Land Ownership Award for Velez Malaga it is not valid because the SC has already ruled that the courts have no jurisdiction over agrarian reform cases, he added.

Pangandaman said it is unfair of Negros Occidental officials to declare him persona non grata in the province because he is just doing his job.

I am appealing to them to instead help us implement together the social justice program of the government, which is a priority of the President, he said.

Pangandaman stressed that he was not siding with Task Force Mapalad as alleged by Negros officials, he is only for the installation of the legitimate farm workers of the hacienda.

Gov. Joseph Marañon and the Negros Occidenal mayors have complained about Pangandaman's lack of coordination in the implementation of land reform, especially in Velez Malaga where violence has broken out several times. This year three TFM farmers have been killed.

SC ORDER NOT RECEIVED

Pangandaman and Merced said they have not received the SC order for them to show cause why they should not be cited for contempt yet.

Merced said the police and Army troopers should not be ones the landowner should go after as they were merely complying with orders to assist the DAR.

They should center their complaint on the DAR because if any violation was committed the blame should be placed on the DAR officials who made the decision to install the beneficiaries and asked for the support of the police and Army, Merced said.

ORIGIN OF CASE

The SC case docketed as GR No 174163 originated from the Regional Trial Court of La Carlota City in Negros Occidental, Diaz said.

When DAR cancelled Cuenca's title of ownership of the land it issued a CLOA in the names of the members of TFM, he said.

Cuenca then filed a case before the La Carlota RTC against DAR for annulment of coverage.

"The case was filed on the ground that the notice of coverage filed by DAR on Mr. Cuenca was beyond the four-year period prescribed under the law," Diaz said.

The CARP law provides that lands over 50 hectares should be covered and completed within four years from 1988 when the law took effect, he said.

The case also cited the declaration of unconstitutionality of then President Corazon Aquino's Executive Order 405 because it was issued when Congress was in session, he said. EO 405 amended the CARP law transferring the authority to value lands from DAR to the Land Bank of the Philippines, he added.

The La Carlota Court cancelled that CLOA issued for Velez Malaga in 2002 because it violated the writ of preliminary injunction issued earlier by the RTC and declared the certificate of payment for the property of Cuenca null and void, Diaz said.

The DAR questioned this order before the Court of Appeals and the CA sustained the RTC and in effect the writ of preliminary injunction on DAR action in Velez Malaga is still existing, he said.

"TFM then intervened in the case and filed a petition for certiorari before the Supreme Court, not DAR, that is GR No. 174163," he said.

DAR is the main party in the case that stemmed from the RTC, Diaz said.

The secretary should have waited for the decision on the main case before installing farmers at Velez Malaga, he also said.

Pangandaman should respect the writ of preliminary injunction issued by the RTC that was sustained by the CA, Diaz added.*CPG

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