26 Oct Local Farmers Accuse Ayala Corp. of Breaking Its Promises
Source: investambayan.com
Several farmers have accused the Ayala Corporation of allegedly breaking a promise it made some 20 years ago to 40 farmers in Barangay Tubajon, Laguindingan, Misamis Oriental.
In an article from Sunstar Cagayan de Oro, Chairman of the Tubajon Farmers Association (TFA), Efren Jaramillo, said that Ayala Corp. promised to give the farmers “disturbance compensation” and a relocation site including livelihood and education opportunities, all of which were made after the farmers agreed to convert their farmlands into an industrial area of the corporation.
Jaramillo said that Ayala acquired a total land area of 602 hectares from the farmers without pertinent documents certifying their ownership for the area and by allegedly threatening the farmers. He also added that the farmers did not get the right amount of money for the property as they were paid very little for it.
Misamis Oriental Farmers Association (MOFA) Coordinator, Roger Plana, maintained the liability of Ayala Corp. in giving the demands of the TFA members with supporting decisions from the Court of Appeals (CA) and the Supreme Court (SC).
On the other hand, Yla Patricia Alcantara of the AC Corporate Communications said that the issue has been settled years ago and no complaints were brought up by the farmers.
She also said that a Memorandum of Agreement was created to solidify the agreement between the corporation and the beneficiaries.
To date, according to Alcantara, there were 415 out of the 438 Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) qualified beneficiaries who are now taking advantage of the benefits of the agreement and they are still waiting for the remaining 23 slots to be occupied.
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