Members of Hijo Employees Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Cooperative 1 (HEARBCO-1) yesterday denied their union was in conflict with the Madaum Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association, Inc. (MARBAI) as claimed by Lapanday Foods Incorporated.
Guesting during the Kapehan sa Dabaw media forum on Monday, HEARBCO-1 member Robert Mantilla belied the statement of LFC legal counsel Atty. Leilani Espejo that LFC was only caught between the dispute of two parties, adding that they were not the ones who ordered the guards of LFC to shoot the members of MARBAI.
“Dili sa HAERBCO-1 ang mga gwardya (The guards were not hired by HEARBCO-1),” stressed Mantilla.
Also guesting during the forum, MARBAI Chair Mely Yu reiterated Mantilla’s statement that they are not in conflict with HEARBCO-1, adding that Mantilla’s presence with them in the forum signifies their unified call against LFC.
According to Yu, HEARBCO-1 board of directors has signed an agreement with MARBAI on April 2016 to respect the decision of Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board (DARAB) and abide by the Writ of Execution to return the properties owned by members of MARBAI.
She added, as MARBAI members began to reclaim their 145-hectare area on December last year, “blue guards” of LFC shot at them causing injury to some of their members.
Mantilla also denied LFC’s claim on MARBAI’s acquisition of HEARBCO-1’s equipment.
“Dili tinuod nga gikawat sa MARBAI. Dili tinuod nga nag-away away mi, (It is not true that MARBAI stole our equipment. It is not true that we had a dispute.),” said Mantilla.
The HEARBCO-1 member said many of their members want to withdraw their involvement with LFC because of the injustices they suffer with LFC.
“Barato kaayo’g pinalitan, strikto pa gyud kang ayo… ang uban nga naa’y mupalit ug seven dollars, ang ila tig-kwatro lang. Kada karton mu-alkanse mi ug 45 pesos. (They buy our harvest for a very low price and they’re also very strict…if other buyers would pay seven dollars, they buy ours for only four dollars. That’s why for every carton, we are 45 pesos deficit.),” explained Mantilla.
He also pointed out that HEARBCO-1 wants an audit on their growing debt to LFC because they found out it is already nearing to Php1 billion, which according to him, an absence of transparency on the side of LFC.
Mantilla is also questioning where such amount came from since their loan is not that substantial even if they add up the expenses for their equipment and development of land which was also loaned to them by LFC.
He also disclosed that on the height of the dispute between the two parties, as claimed by LFC, LFC offered them Php6,000 to organize a counter-protest and disperse MARBAI themselves but he emphasized they did not accept the amount because they are one with LFC in their call for justice.
He also mentioned that a signage was placed by LFC on the gates of the plantation which states that any member of the cooperative will be shot if they will enter the land which the cooperative originally owns.
“Naa man gani to shoot to kill order,” stated another HEARBCO-1 member.
According to Mantilla, the Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) proves that both HEARBCO-1 and MARBAI are the true owners of the property being “claimed by Lapanday”.
