LA CASTELLANA - Angry workers wept, while others jubilantly declared a partial victory yesterday as 57 farmer beneficiaries were installed amid the threat of violence by Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman on a portion of Hacienda Velez-Malaga here.

The installation was enforced with the help of 245 6th Regional Mobile Group cops headed by Senior Supt. Pedro Merced and about 100 Army soldiers after more than four hours of negotiations for a peaceful resolution bogged down.

The army and police were brought in to contain resistance from members of the Hacienda Malaga Independent Workers Union and the Hacienda Malaga-Cuenca Multi-Purpose Cooperative .

Fr. Rolex Nueva, Social Action Center director of the Diocese of Kabankalan, who tried to help mediate for peace, said the installation yesterday spelled an uncertain future for the farmers with the threat of violence erupting on the farm still hanging over their heads.

What is the true meaning and value of the land without peace? Nueva asked.

Pangandaman said that of the 57 beneficiaries installed, 53 were members of Task Force Mapalad and four were from the union out of the total 122 beneficiaries of a Certificate of Land Ownership Award covering 114 hectares on Velez-Malaga.

He said only 53 TFM beneficiaries were installed because they are the ones recognized by the other group as the legitimate beneficiaries of the land.

The legitimacy of the rest of the TFM beneficiaries will be subjected to a review based on a motion for reconsideration filed by the other camp, he said.

Those who are not legitimate beneficiaries will not be installed, he said.

The newly installed beneficiaries as of yesterday were confined to only to five hectares adjacent to the 10 hectares that their group has been occupying since 2002.

Pangandaman said he has asked the police and Army to continue to keep the peace at Velez-Malaga following yesterday's installation.

"This is not a mock installation, this is the real thing, " Pangandaman said.

'HUNGER STRIKE'

TFM officer Lani Factor said TFM members who were on a 29-day hunger strike in front of the DAR Quezon City office because of the delay in the Velez-Malaga installation were lifting their protest yesterday.

Pangandaman denied he implemented the installation so abruptly because he was ordered to do so by the President out of fear that some of the hunger strikers at the DAR could die. He also denied that his job was on the line if he failed to do it.

The surprise installation was carried out to keep the resisting group of beneficiaries off guard and allow DAR personnel to successfully break the impasse, he said.

POLICE BLOCKADE

The Army and police arrived in La Castellana at about 5:30 a.m. and immediately blocked the bridge leading to farm to prevent reinforcement from farmers from neighboring areas sympathetic to the coop and union members.

The troops also barred the media from entering the area, prompting accusations against them for lack of transparency. Merced later relented and let the media through.

Yesterday morning, about 200 angry and weeping farmers blocked the entrance of Velez-Malaga and across the street a phalanx of RMG troopers armed with riot shields and sticks kept watch to prevent them from surging forward in the direction of the TFM members waiting to be installed.

RAIN OF STONES

As the RMG men moved in on the farmers opposing the installation, some of them broke free of the police line by running at top speed through the fields to hurl big stones on the TFM members, some of whom were also seen hurling stones back.

Among the first to seek shelter from the rain of stones by rushing into a parked bus was Pangandaman, while policemen helped shield the media from the mayhem that broke out.

But the RMG quickly contained the situation and rounded up 29 of the resisting farmers who broke through the lines.

The farmers opposing the installation said they would give up their lives to prevent the installation.

After the situation calmed down, Pangandaman proceeded with negotiations with leaders of both camps.

Rodolfo Tupas Jr., president of the union, and Romeo Caram, vice president of the cooperative, said they were opposing the installation as the DAR should first review the beneficiaries of the CLOA granted the TFM side. They also asked that a collective CLOA be issued for all the Velez Malaga workers but the DAR officials refused.

DAR Undersecretary Narciso Nieto said the TFM farmers had been waiting 11 years for the installation and 5 years of negotiations were too much.

The farmers on the other side have been enjoying the benefits of the land while the uninstalled TFM members have not, he said.

At one point during the negotiations Roberto Aizpuro of the resisting farmers camp shouted invectives at Pangandaman, prompting the secretary to warn him.

When negotiations bogged down, RMG troopers again closely blocked the path of the resisting farm workers as the DAR prepared to install the TFM beneficiaries on land across from where they were.

Several farmers again attempted to break the police line to prevent the TFM installation but failed to stop Pangandaman and other DAR officials from leading the TFM members to the middle of the field covered by their CLOA to effect the installation.*CPG

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