Sumilao farmers push to get land titles before returning home

Sumilao farmers who have marched back to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) from Manila on Wednesday morning said they are waiting for another meeting with DAR Sec. Nasser Pangandaman to resolve remaining issues in the land row. This, as the farmers expressed their desire to have the titles to the 144-hectare transferred to their names and physically be handed over to them before they head back to their homes in Bukidnon. GMA’s Flash Report said the farmers remained at the DAR compound in Quezon City while waiting for a dialogue with Pangandaman to thresh out remaining issues in the land dispute. The Sumilao farmers maintained that while President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered that the site be placed under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, it does not automatically entitle them to the land. The farmers noted that San Miguel Foods Inc (SMFI) will remain the owner of the contested property until the government compensates the company for the land cost. The farmers marched more than 1,700 kilometers from Sumilao to Manila since October to dramatize their plight. - GMANews.TV