Revilla: I bought the Silang property in 1972

"I’m the rightful owner of the property."

Thus said Sen. Ramon Revilla as he denied allegations that he usurped the ownership of 25 hectares of land in Barangay Cabangaan in Silang, Cavite from farmers there, adding that he legally acquired the property more than 30 years ago.

Revilla said he was offended by the land-grabbing accusations hurled against him by Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) chairman Rafael Mariano and Samahan ng Magsasaka sa Cabangaan (Samaca) chairman Teodoro Garcia.

"I acquired the property sometime in 1972 from Miliano Asuncion, a brother of a former mayor of Silang. It had two houses and two families occupying it. It was the request of the former owner of the land to let the two families stay (on) my property," the senator said.

Mariano and Garcia asked the Senate and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) last Wednesday to investigate Revilla for alleged unethical acts committed against Cabangaan farmers and prevent him from forcing them to vacate the land.

"The Senate should look deeply into Revilla’s possible violation of existing laws, abuse of authority and use of political influence," Mariano said.

Revilla, Mariano said, has given the 37 tenant-families a period of six months to leave the area.

Garcia said Revilla plans to convert the land into a "Senator’s Village."

Garcia pleaded with Agrarian Reform Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan to recognize the right of the farmers who he claimed have been tilling the land since 1911, and issue a status quo order.

"The DAR should also stop Revilla from cornering all our coconut harvests and depriving us of the fruits of our labor," said Garcia, reportedly one of the farmer-residents in the disputed land.

Revilla, however, alleged that Garcia is one of the squatters on the property.

He said the two families originally occupying the land increased to six in the late 1980s and later to 21, but that Garcia was not among them.

"I have been very generous to them. After many years, I subdivided the property for my 11 children. Sometime in 1990, the Department of Agrarian Reform wrote to me because the families living on my property wanted to enter into a leasehold agreement with me. We agreed that they would pay me rentals for their stay on my property," he said.

The leasehold agreement, he said, included conditions that the farmers will be ejected if they fail to pay within three years of their lease, if they build houses on the land or if they cut coffee and coconut trees.

Revilla added that the farmers are mere victims of loan sharks operating in Cabangaan.

"I have asked my lawyers to prepare the necessary action of ejectment against them. I am still thinking whether I would convert the property into a subdivision," he said.

"I told them that I would give them the proper notice to vacate the place within six months," he added. — With Katherine Adraneda