Several agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) have petitioned the Court of Appeals (CA) to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) nullifying the Department of Agrarian Reform’s (DAR) 2023 Consolidated Order.

The order threatens thousands of residents living on more than 1,300 hectares across three haciendas — Palico, Banilad and Caylaway — in Nasugbu, Batangas, with eviction and demolition.

On Friday, the ARBs — led by Maria Gomez, Valerio Costelo, Felicisimo Buenviaje, and others — filed an urgent petition for certiorari with prayer for injunction/TRO against DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella, Undersecretary Napoleon Galit, Abdullah Linog, Roxas and Company Inc. and other respondents.

The petition seeks to declare the Consolidated Order for ADM Case No. A-999-04-MS-0556-2023 null and void, and to annul the Certificate of Finality signed on January 30, 2024, by Undersecretary Galit, as well as the Order of Execution signed on 19 February 2024, by DAR official Abdullah Linog.

They also ask the CA to enjoin the respondents from implementing the Consolidated Order pending resolution of the case, and to issue a preliminary injunction or TRO to halt any eviction or demolition activities.

The ARBs’ lawyer, Irvyn Longno, stressed that the 1,322 hectares awarded to the beneficiaries were unfairly allocated. He warned that while only 1,200 farmers will receive land parcels, thousands of residents face eviction and relocation to a mountainous site lacking livelihood opportunities, water, and electricity.

“Thousands of families are at risk. The former lawyer of these ARBs colluded with Roxas and Company, Inc. without the beneficiaries’ consent. The Consolidated Order must be stopped,” Longno said.

The ARBs questioned why, under President Marcos Jr. and Secretary Estrella’s land distribution programs, they are now facing eviction despite peacefully living in the haciendas.