Farmers seeking the distribution of the 157-hectare Hacienda Bacan in Negros Occidental, owned by First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, have asked the Supreme Court to investigate the injunction order issued last July 20 by the Regional Trial Court of La Carlota City against the registration of their certificate of land ownership award, a Task Force Mapalad press release said.

The farmers are seeking a dialog with the high court Chief Justice Reynato Puno through Bishop Broderick Pabillo to probe Presiding Judge Francisco Rodriguez of the RTC Branch 63 of La Carlota City for alleged grave abuse of authority and for possible violation of the agrarian reform law.

Hacienda Bacan farmer beneficiary Rogelio Salva said the farmers view the injunction order as a violation of agrarian law provisions, both under Republic Act 6657 and Republic Act 9700, which extended CARP for another five years.

He said that under both Acts, agrarian cases remain under exclusive jurisdiction of the DAR Adjudication Board, and that under Section 73 of RA 6657 and Section 24 of RA 9700, the “prevention by any person, association, or entity of the implementation of the CARP” is a prohibited act.

The farmers led by Salva, said that they came to know of the injunction order only last November 11, or almost four months after the decision (issued on 25 August 2009) when they held a picket in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform Provincial Office in Bacolod City to press anew for the registration of their CLOA issued by DAR in July last year.

“We were surprised to learn of the court's injunction order from the DARPO. We believe we have the right to be informed by the court of the decision because we are the affected party,” Salva, who was a participant in a month-long hunger strike last year to call for registration of their CLOA, said in the press release.

“Judge Francisco's decision is illegal and in bad faith especially when he issued the injunction after the new law on Comprehensive Agrarian Reform with Reforms or CARPer now RA 9700 had been signed by President Arroyo on 05 August (2009),” Salva added.

He said that last February 2, the RTC Judge Rodriguez had issued a temporary restraining order against the registration of their CLOA in response to an injunction petition filed by Rivulet Agro-Industrial Corp., the corporate owner of Hacienda Bacan, against the Register of Deeds of Negros Occidental and the Land Registration Authority in Quezon City.

Rivulet Corporation Inc. is headed by Negros Representative Ignacio Arroyo as its President and FG Mike Arroyo as a member of the Board, the press release said.

“We were not informed of the TRO decision. We came to know of it only on February 26, or more than three weeks later, when we sought an audience with then Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales to ask him to order the LRA to register our CLOA,” Celis said in the press release.

He said that in response to the TRO, they filed before the RTC Branch 63 of La Carlota City a motion to intervene in the injunction case.

“Apparently, Judge Rodriguez ignored our petition because he issued an injunction without hearing our motion for intervention first. That is why we are asking the Supreme Court to investigate Judge Rodriguez for grave abuse of authority,” Salva said.

The struggle for land rights in Hacienda Bacan had already taken a decade and the hacienda's 68 farmer-beneficiaries more than deserved to own the land already awarded to them under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, the TFM press release said.*

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