DECADES after tilling their land, and 33 years after the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) was implemented, members of the Don Carlos Bukidnon United Farmers Association, Inc. (DCBUFAI) still do not own the land they cultivate.

The DCBUFAI is pointing fingers at the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Region X Office, alleging delays in the distribution of their Certificate of Land Ownership Application (CLOA) after more than 10 years of revalidation. They are demanding to know why DAR Director Zoraida O. Macandindang is taking so long to award their CLOAs.

“Ang uban kanamo ang ginikanan pa nag process sa application atong 1987, pag implementar anang CARP. Sa kadugay nila pag uma, gahulat nga ma award ang yuta sa ilaha, ni abot na lang ang panahon na ni panaw na sila, ang mga anak ang ga padayon,” said Jovencio Destor, president of DCBUFAI.

The DCBUFAI members claim a 109-hectare portion of what used to be the area of Bukidnon Farms Inc., formerly owned by Eduardo ‘Danding’ Cojuangco Jr., was taken over by the government in 1986.

The land was later distributed to former BFI workers, including members of DCBUFAI.

It has been a long and uphill struggle for the DCBUFAI. They underwent a revalidation process in 2011. In November 2012, a national dialogue was held at the DAR Central Office where an agreement was reached to finalize the DCBUFAI revalidation by February 2013.

Since then, the petitioners have not received any report from those revalidation processes that identified DCBUFAI farmers as qualified farmer beneficiaries.

On Aug. 14, 2024, DCBUFAI, along with the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), Sanlakas, and Makabayan Pilipinas, held a dialogue with DAR officials at the DAR Central Office regarding DCBUFAI’s petition to expedite the release of their CLOA.

But still, despite the passing of more than 33 years, two revalidations done by DAR, and several follow-ups with both the DAR Field Office and Central Office, no concrete actions have been taken, and no formal recognition of their rights to the land has been granted.

“Kami nag panawagan sa DAR, nga tutukan na nila ni ug humanon ang proseso sa pag award sa amoa ang among mga yuta. Sa pipila ka tuig na nilabay, wala na gani kami ga laum nga makita pa namo ni sa among kinabuhi. Apan gi pursiger namo kini para na lang sa among mga anak, nga mapaingon sa ila ang kaugmaon,” Destor said.

A recent update from the DAR Region X office stated that a dialogue was tentatively scheduled for June 26, after PMCJ personally followed up at the agency office in Cagayan de Oro on June 4 and June 18. DCBUFAI has yet to receive a formal letter of invitation to the dialogue.

A dialogue has been scheduled by DAR-10 on July 3 at its regional offices at Macanhan in Cagayan de Oro.

DCBUFAI, along with PMCJ, Makabayan Pilipinas, and Sanlakas, are calling on DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III to act immediately and resolve once and for all the claims of the farmer members of DCBUFAI.