DAR agreed to hog farm development in Sumilao, says SMFI
President Arroyo had no legal basis in revoking a decision of the Ramos administration upholding the conversion of a 144-hectare land in Bukidnon to agro-industrial, San Miguel Foods Inc. said, insisting the company did not violate the conversion order as claimed by the Department of Agrarian Reform.
In asking the Office of the President to reconsider Mrs. Arroyo’s order, SMFI said the order of Dec. 18 revoking the Sumilao property’s conversion from agricultural to agro-industrial had violated its right to due process because of the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding the decision of then Executive Secretary Ruben Torres.
“The OP decision dated
“The property has been reclassified to agro-industrial use and is beyond the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law,” the SMFI said.
The SMFI the DAR agreed to a construction of the state-of-the-art piggery farm in the Sumilao land a month after Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman dismissed the petition of farmers claiming the property on grounds of lack of jurisdiction on Oct. 27. 2006.
“Upon careful review of the Revised Development Plan and its attachments, in the light of the applicable laws and regulations, this Office finds, and so holds, that the Sumilao Hog Farm Project will not entail a change in the authorized land use for the subject property and is consistent with its approved conversion to agro-industrial use pursuant to OP decision dated March 29, 1996,” the SMFI quoted DAR Opinion No. 35 in its motion for consideration last Jan. 17.
The SMFI has asked the OP to reconsider and set aside its Dec. 18 order, deny the farmers’ motions for reconsideration and cease-and-desist order, and dismiss the farmers’ petition for cancellation and/or revocation of the conversion order for the 144-hectare land.
Malacañang said Mrs. Arroyo’s order reverting the Sumilao land to agricultural was based on the DAR’s recommendation on grounds that SMFI had violated the conversion order when it built a piggery farm on the property.
On
It was in response to SMFI’s request for confirmation and/or concurrence to its Revised Development Plan for the hog farm project submitted to the agency on
The SMFI, a subsidiary of the San Miguel Corp., said DAR Opinion No. 35 confirmed that the piggery farm project, as described in its Revised Development Plan, is consistent with the authorized agro-industrial use for the property under the Comprehensive Land Use Plan of the
“It did not amend the Torres Decision (of then Executive Secretary Torres) but merely determined, in accordance with prevailing jurisprudence, whether the hog farm project is consistent with the authorized agro-industrial use of the property,” the SMFI said.
The SMFI said DAR Opinion No. 35 was issued a month before the farmers belonging to the Mapadayong Panaghiusa sa mga Lumad Alang sa Damlag (MAPALAD), filed their notice of appeal with the Office of the President on Nov. 30, 2006.
“The SMFI request did not require amendment of the(Office of the President) Conversion Order, since the DAR in the first place had no authority to do so (not even OP), but merely called for a determination of its conformity with the authorized land use therein, of which the DAR, as the agency with primary jurisdiction over land use conversions, has the necessary expertise,” the SMFI said.
The SMFI said there was nothing illegal in the construction of the Sumilao Hog Farm Project since raising commercial livestock, poultry and swine are agro-industrial activities.
“Thus, it is inaccurate (and exaggerated) for the DAR to say in its Recommendation dated December 18, 2007, and for the OP to concur, that DAR Opinion No. 35 partakes of an amendment of the OP Conversion Order,” SMFI said.
The SMFI said the approval of the conversion application was “use-specific, not project-specific,” and that there was nothing in the Torres Decision or in any DAR conversion guidelines which bar the change or modification of proposed projects for the Sumilao land. – Katherine Adraneda
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