CLOA heist worries tillers

Certificates of land ownership award, or CLOAs, have become worthless scraps of paper even if most of these were handed out by two Philippine presidents based on the recent turn of events that has filled all holders of the document with trepidation.

A CLOA is the basic title given to farmers who are beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, but the many conditions allowing for its cancellation are being exploited by developers keen on obtaining emancipated lands.

Among the grounds that can lead to the cancellation of a CLOA are the property being a retention area of the landowner; the landholding being excluded or exempted from coverage of CARP (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program) under Presidential Decree 27, or other agrarian reform laws; defective or irregular notices of coverage or NOCs; the landholding falls under the exclusive authority of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources or the National Commission on Indigenous People.

Recently, a news program aired footage of residents who were CLOA holders in a sitio in Angeles City, Pampanga, being evicted by a demolition team backed by police officers.

Other agrarian reform beneficiaries and holders of CLOAs are now asking how valid their certificates are.

“They watched the news program last Thursday, which showed residents pushing back by hurling bottles and stones at members of a demolition team. We hope that does not happen to us. The members of our community are frightened,” said Amie Balanon, a leader of the ARBs in Nasugbu, Batangas, who are facing the cancellation of their CLOAs and the award of their land to Roxas and Co. Inc.

A TV news report last Thursday showed furious CLOA holders hurling Molotov cocktails, rocks, and bottles at the demolition team and police officers in Sitio Balubad, Barangay Anunas, Angeles City, Pampanga.

“We were born here, and this is where we will die,” asserted a resident who threw a rock at the demolition team.

Sheriff Elizabeth Marasigan said the case in Sitio Balubad had been decided with finality by the Supreme Court.

“The job of the sheriff is only ministerial, that is, to execute the writ of execution and demolition issued by the SC on 6 May 2022. There is no TRO (temporary restraining order) released for the sheriff to stop the court order,” she said.

According to the Homeowners and Farmers Association of Sitio Balubad, the parcel of land measured 73 hectares with more than 2,000 residents.

The residents’ CLOAs, which were awarded during the terms of former Presidents Fidel V. Ramos and Joseph Estrada, were canceled in 2013 when it was proven in litigation that the land was not agricultural but residential.

The writ of demolition, on the other hand, was issued by a Pampanga court in 2022.

Similar to the experience of the Nasugbu ARBs, the group alleged that they should have been consulted when the DAR terminated their CLOAs.

‘Are we next?’

The situation has heightened the worries of the Nasugbu ARBs: “Are we next? Will we soon be ordered to leave?” These are the questions of the residents and senior citizens. “We see several groups making sudden visits and asking about CLOA holders. We don’t know who they are, but we suspect they were sent by Roxas (Roxas and Company Inc.).”

Facing repossession after years of litigation are 2,941 hectares of land in Nasugbu that covers Haciendas Palico, Banilad and Caylaway.

Barangay Aga, with more than 8,000 residents, along with five other barangays, is inside Hacienda Caylaway, which was awarded to Roxas and Co. based on the equal sharing ruling in the Consolidated Order of Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III issued on 29 December 2023.

“The government continues to award CLOAs, but ours, which we have held for so long, are being taken from us on the pretext of industrialization. We are not obstructions to the development of Nasugbu, and we are pleading not to be ejected from our homes. We are appealing to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for help,” said Nasugbu’s Agrarian Reform Council chief Gilbert del Mundo in a recent interview.

Last Wednesday, President Marcos distributed CLOAs and e-titles to ARBs in Davao City, asserting that his administration wants to double the 90,000 titles distributed in the previous year as he aims to complete the land distribution under the CARP before the end of his term.

DAR’s position

DAR Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Napoleon Galit, in a statement to DAILY TRIBUNE on Friday, said that with the DAR consolidated order, approximately 1,300 farmers in Nasugbu are set to receive CLOAs within the next three months.

“Additionally, the farmers will also enjoy the benefits of additional landholdings from government-owned lands. The town of Nasugbu stands to benefit, as this initiative addresses the longstanding issue of unidentifiable owners responsible for handling real estate taxes,” Galit said.

Galit explained that in a pivotal 1999 SC case, the court decisively declared the nullity of the CARP coverage over the disputed Nasugbu lands.

However, it refrained from annulling the CLOAs to allow the DAR to rectify the administrative error, as the ruling acknowledged the exclusive authority of the DAR secretary to cancel issued CLOAs.

“Seeking a comprehensive resolution to the protracted issues, both parties, RCI and the ARBs, submitted Motions to Withdraw the Petition to the Office of the President (OP) and the SC. Multiple Motions to Withdraw Appeal/Petition were filed by the ARBs, represented by lawyer Nenita Mahinay, while RCI, represented by Santiago Roxas Elizalde, submitted a Motion to Withdraw,” Galit explained.

Mahinay is the former lawyer of the Nasugbu ARBs, whom the residents had accused of concealing from them the issuance of the consolidated order by the DAR last month.

“Based on interviews with residents, they were never informed that Mahinay had withdrawn the cases or the implications and ramifications of the withdrawal. With this order, she also did not explain its contents. It should be emphasized that most of the residents are farmers and lack knowledge of legal jargon. Thus, in dismay, they expressed their sentiments in a manifesto and terminated the services of Mahinay,” said Mario Cerro, the ARBs’ new counsel.

No chance for MR?

Galit said that on 14 September 2023, a joint manifestation signed by both parties was submitted in compliance with the directive of the Office of the President.

“The DAR submitted a manifestation on 25 October 2023, complying with the OP’s directive to provide a comment on the parties’ cases for comprehensive resolution. The Office of the Solicitor General, representing the DAR, also filed a Manifestation and Motion to Withdraw the Petition in G.R. 241116 on 4 October 2023, urging the remand of the cases to the DAR for thorough resolution and complete disposition of the case,” he said.

The DAR official maintained that, consequently, an Omnibus Order was issued on 11 January 2024 that was received by the parties on the same day.

Subsequently, both parties’ counsels filed separate requests for certificates of the finality of the omnibus order.

“With no motion for reconsideration within the reglementary period reckoned from the 11 January 2024 receipt of the order, the issuance of a certificate of finality became a procedural formality,” according to Galit.

Cerro, however, maintained that they met the 15-day deadline to submit their motion for reconsideration, although he said they were not counting on the DAR giving weight to their pleading as it had already ruled that the consolidated order was final and executory. That is why they are bringing the case to the Senate, even to the Office of the President.