Sumilao farmers return to a tearful reunion in hometown

After two months away from home, some 50 farmers who marched from Bukidnon to Manila returned to a tearful reunion – and a surprise welcome - in their home province Sunday night. Online news site MindaNews reported Monday that the farmers’ wives and children waited for hours on the side of the Sayre Highway in Sumilao for the farmers. The farmers arrived at dusk from Cagayan de Oro City, and said they were thankful they will spend Christmas Eve with their families. Providing the surprise in the welcome were officials and employees of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Region 10 who unfurled a huge streamer, “Welcome Home Sumilao Farmers! Your Story is DAR’s Success." None of the DAR officials and employees joined the sendoff for the farmers when they started their march to Manila last October 10. Inday Lingayao and her two young sons stood on the side of the highway braving a heavy downpour. They made ribbons to show their appreciation for their family head Jimmy’s sacrifice. She said Jimmy was among those who staged a hunger strike 10 years ago to fight for the 144-hectare property in Sumilao, which the farmers consider their ancestral domain. The farmers boarded Sunday a C-130 cargo plane to Cagayan de Oro City, days after their leaders had an audience with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in Malacañang. After the meeting, President Arroyo issued an order placing the lot under the coverage of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. The C-130 plane also carried the passenger jeep, a multicab the farmers used for logistical support in their march, and boxes of sardines and clothes donated by nuns in Manila. Many of the soldiers at the Air Force station at the airport gave the farmers thumbs-up signs as they disembarked from the C-130 cargo aircraft, the MindaNews report said. - GMANews.TV