MALAYBALAY CITY-- Another group of Sumilao farmers here called on the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to immediately distribute to qualified farmer-beneficiaries the more than 1,000 hectares of land that is presently occupied by a huge battery company for its cattle production.

Farmers belonging to the Xavier Farms Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association (XAFARBA) also demanded DAR to install their members to the 1,350-hectare Ramcar Estate located in Lupiagan Sumilao, 29 km from this city.

Some of the farmers have already received Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

During the meeting with farmers in Sumilao in February, Edilberto Daigon, XAFARBA chairperson, said there should be no more delay in installing their members who have been waiting for five years now, after their CLOAs were given in April 20, 2005.

“What is DAR waiting for? The land that Ramcar is using has already been awarded to our members,” Daigon said.

In 2006, the Agustines family in the name of Ramcar/Umalag Farms Inc. sent a letter of protest to the DAR regional office, seeking to exempt this Sumilao property from CARP coverage on the basis that the land is devoted to commercial livestock.