Batangas farmers protest CARP exemption granted to Roxas property in Nasugbu

NASUGBU, Batangas — Hundreds of farmers, residents and members of local government unit (LGU) here trooped to the Supreme Court yesterday to push for the nullification of a Court of Appeals ruling granting the 2,930-hectare agricultural land owned by Roxas & Co. Inc. an exemption from the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

The SC is expected to decide on the matter within the first semester of the year.

Militant group ALYANSA 1520 headed by its chairperson Clarito Caisip expressed fears that SC affirmation of the lower court’s decision could set a precedent and affect not only the properties of Roxas & Co. Inc., but the entire Nasugbu and other areas in the country which were also declared as tourism zones.

ALYANSA 1520 said that the CA decision declaring automatic reclassification of the entire Nasugbu lands, penned by Justice Jose Sabio Jr., grossly misapplied Presidential Proclamation 1520 in the petition of Roxas for CARP exemption.

Caisip maintained that the CA decision ignored the certifications issued by the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) and the Mayor’s office that they have yet to identify the specific geographical areas with tourism potential in Nasugbu.

It likewise ignored the Nasugbu Sangguniang Bayan Resolution attesting to the fact that no ordinance or comprehensive land use plan has yet converted the Roxas properties or portions thereof to non-agricultural use.

What has deeply alarmed the farmers and the LGU, Caisip said, is the fact that while the SC’s Second Division has given due course to the petition of aggrieved farmers in Nasugbu, the SC’s Third Division ignored the order of consolidation and dismissed the petition in a one-sentence paragraph minute resolution.

"Moreover, while the Supreme Court has yet to determine with finality whether or not the entire property of Roxas in Nasugbu is exempted from CARP coverage, several petitions for the cancellation of the certificate of land ownership award (CLOAs) have already been filed by Roxas," Caisip said.

ALYANSA 1520 also said that all these petitions were granted by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) through midnight decisions penned by then DAR Secretaries Hernani Braganza and Roberto Pagdanganan, which are now the subject of various cases pending with the SC in different divisions, the Court of Appeals, the Provincial Adjudication Board and the DAR Secretary’s Office.

ALYANSA 1520 is fully supported by the local government, the Sangguniang Bayan, Liga ng mga Barangay Captains, Liga ng mga Homeowners Associations, and Liga ng mga Barangay Agrarian Reform Committees.