Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman is getting more flak for the "stealthy manner" in which he installed farmer beneficiaries in La Castellana recently, and bypassing local government units twice, this time from members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Negros Occidental.

A resolution sponsored by all members of the provincial council denouncing the actuation of Pagdanganan was unanimously approved by the SP during its last session yesterday.

"The stealthy manner by which the Department of Agrarian Reform installed farmer beneficiaries affiliated with Task Force Mapalad, assisted by elements of the 6th Regional Mobile Group, and the Philippine Army endangered the lives not only of the differing contending farmer beneficiaries as well as the inhabitants of the surrounding areas", the resolution said.

Negros Occidental mayors had earlier called for the resignation of Pangandaman and declared him persona non grata, a move also supported by Gov. Joseph Marañon.

Rep. Ignacio Arroyo (5th district Negros Occ.) yesterday said he will talk with President Arroyo on the call of Negros mayors and Maranon for the resignation of Pangandaman.

"I will explain to her what happened here", Arroyo said.

Marañon, in his two-page letter to President Arroyo, lambasted Pangandaman for his failure to coordinate with local government units in the installation of farmer beneficiaries, causing undue tension and injuries to some people.

"The latest forced installation at Hacienda Malaga is a classic example of how a simple procedure was transformed into a national issue, causing so much negative impact on our country and undue difficulties to a lot of our constituents, many of whom are not even involved such as school children who were prevented from going to school and businessman who were not allowed to pass through public roads in the course of their daily chores", Marañon said in his letter.

On the other hand, the SP resolution said the offer of support and coordination between DAR and local government units was twice rebuffed by Pangandaman, despite knowing about the threat of violence erupting between opposing groups of farmer beneficiaries.

Complaints were also filed against Pangandaman before the Commission on Human Rights.

Arroyo said he is now getting all the facts in relation to the actuations of Pangandaman. "We will give all the facts to the President for her to decide", he added.

The Negros Association of Chief Executives, in a resolution, said the installation was done in a manner uncalled for, citing that it was prematurely done because of pending cases in court, among others.

Pangandaman said he was just doing his job when he installed the Velez-Malaga beneficiaries. Marañon said " The worse act he (Pangandaman) did was to express his desire to properly coordinate with us when he failed to install the questioned beneficiaries initially, but surreptitiously went ahead later without our knowledge, causing undue tension and injuries to some people along the way."

"To our mind," he added, "This is an unforgivable act of treachery."

Marañon said he will ask President Arroyo to issue specific guidelines to be strictly followed in similar cases in the future to avoid "unnecessary bloodshed and even death".

In previous years, the provincial government of Negros Occidental made a proposal for the creation of a local agrarian reform council to discuss and settle disputes before any installation of beneficiaries. While all parties consented, DAR refused for reasons we do not know, Marañon said.

He also expressed fears that time will come when these matters "will go out of our control".

"This matter is so serious that peace and order in our province have been adversely affected and landowners, as well as their regular workers, are very restive", he added.

Marañon also clarified that Negrenses, especially sugar planters, are not against the agrarian reform program as always claimed by certain sectors, especially in Manila.

"The landowners simply are demanding that the rule of law must prevail", he stressed.*GPB

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