Farmers of Task Force Mapalad in Isabela, Negros Occidental, said in a press statement they are hopeful that certificates of land ownership award will be issued to the Arroyo-owned property in Hacienda Bacan in May.

The group said this after a recent agreement between the Department of Agrarian Reform and the Land Bank of the Philippines to proceed with the valuation of the property.

The farmers are very hopeful because the valuation would pave the way for the generation and issuance of CLOAs, TFM president Jose Rodito Angeles said in the statement.

TFM said the 157-hectare Hacienda Bacan was planned to be converted into an agro-industrial estate for production of ethanol by the Arroyos.

However, last Friday Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman said First Gentleman Mike Arroyo has already said that Bacan is being offered for coverage under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, but said that qualified beneficiaries should be identified.

The DAR chief said that coverage of Bacan is a work in progress and workers from three groups, including those from TFM, have laid claims to the property.

TFM said that in a meeting with farmers last Tuesday, DAR and Land Bank agreed to conduct an ocular inspection of the hacienda, located in Barangay Guintubhan, on April 29 and 30.

Hacienda Bacan, owned by Rivulet Agro-Industrial Corp., was placed under CARP coverage in 1996 through compulsory acquisition. However, in 2001, Rep. Ignacio Arroyo (Neg.Occ., 5th District), president of Rivulet Corp., offered the property to CARP under the voluntary offer-to-sell scheme, the TFM said.

The sale of the property to CARP was approved by the board of directors of Rivulet Corp. and DAR prepared a claim folder that it submitted to the Land Bank for valuation of the property.

The TFM claimed that the Land Bank returned the claim folder to DAR, saying that some documents showed that First Gentleman Mike Arroyo was the property owner and it should be annotated in the hacienda’s title.

The group added in its statement that, in a notarized Declaration of Trust  issued by the First Gentleman in October last year, he disclaimed any interest in the property and allowed Rivulet Corp. to sell the hacienda to CARP.*

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