Presidential Adviser Rafael Coscolluela said attempts to reach a win-win solution yesterday on the installation of Task Force Mapalad farmer beneficiaries in Hacienda Velez-Malaga in Barangay Robles, La Castellana, next week failed.

The meeting in Manila yesterday where another proposal from landowner Roberto Cuenca was presented, was attended by DAR officials and TFM representatives led by Christian Monsod, he said. Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Panagandaman has said there are no longer any legal impediments to the installation of farmer beneficiaries but it was hoped that a solution acceptable to both sides could be reached to ensure the peaceful coexistence of the TFM and pro Cuenca beneficiaries, Coscolluela said.

It was a difficult meeting and although a generous offer was made by Cuenca, the TFM group turned it down insisting to be installed on the land stated in the CLOA already granted to them, he said.

Coscolluela said that, of the 300 beneficiaries on the Cuenca property, 102 belong to TFM and 198 belong to the other side.

The DAR has granted Cuenca a 5-hectare retention of the property as is legally allowed under the law, he said.

Lani Factor of TFM in a statement issued yesterday said Pangandaman's new promise to install the TFM farmer-beneficiaries is at least the seventh they can remember since January last year.

The only difference this time is that he made the promise publicly, through the mass media, in the wake of the farmers' hunger strike in front of DAR, she said. But again Pangandaman's new promise still leaves uncertainty for the protesting farmers who have understandably become cynical to his words, she said. He did not mention a specific date-only "next week"-which we will assume to be anytime from Monday to Sunday, she said.

It is reassuring to hear that Pangandaman wants to ensure the safety of the farmer-beneficiaries not only during the process of installation but also even after they are installed, she said.

Since Pangandaman had not mentioned specific details of how the farmers will be installed, she said they suggest that the following steps be taken:

Pangandaman should be present during the installation, but if he cannot come, a team from the DAR Central Office, instead of the local DAR officials, should supervise the installation. "

The police-supervised Civilian Volunteer Organization , the equivalent of military-supervised Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit, which is stationed inside Hacienda Velez-Malaga and is being maintained by Cuenca must be disarmed and disbanded.

In place of the CVO, a detachment of the Philippine National Police-Regional Mobile Group must be set up inside the hacienda to maintain peace and order and prevent Cuenca from taking reprisals against the farmer-beneficiaries.

Police and military units independent of local authorities should primarily assist in the installation.

Ensure that the installation of the farmer-beneficiaries must cover the whole 144-hectare area as defined in their collective CLOA No. 10066 issued by DAR in April 2002. The farmers will reject any other midnight offer by, arrangement with, Cuenca.*CPG

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