(This backgrounder on the case of the Sumilao Farmers was lifted from the website of Simbahang

Lingkod ng Bayan, which supports the cause of the farmers.)

The Sumilao farmers are the indigenous people (Lumads) of Sumilao Bukidnon. They were the early
settlers of a piece of ancestral land in Sumilao, Bukidnon. A portion thereof, 243.885 hectare area of
the ancestral and served as the Seat of Government of the Higaonons where the traditional paghusay
and pamuhat were conducted by the Higaonon tribal council lead by Apo Manuagay Anlicao and
Apo Mangganiahon Anlicao. The ancestral land is a flat agricultural terrain situated in the midst of
Mt. Sayawan and Mt. Palaopao, and where Mt. Kitanglad can be seen from afar.
Then the Angeles came in 1930s forcibly evicting the Higaonons from their ancestral land and
converted the land into a cattle ranch. Later, the land was transferred to the Ilagans. In 1970s, the
ancestral land was divided between 2 landowners: 99.885 hectares to Salvador Carlos while the 144
hectares was transferred to Norberto Quisumbing. The ancestral land was eventually leased to Del
Monte Philippines, Inc. (DMPI) for 10 years. At this time, the Higaonons became farmworkers of the
land they once owned.
With the advent of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law in 1988, the 144 ancestral land was
covered for distribution to 137 Mapadayonong Panaghiusa sa mga Lumad Alang sa Damlag
(Mapalad) farmers, all of Higaonon lineage. Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) was
subsequently issued in their names making them the owners of the 144 ancestral land. For the first
time in several years, the Mapalad farmers regained their ancestral land. What followed next was a
controversial legal battle which sparked national interest involving the sad state of agrarian reform in
the country.
The Quisumbing family applied for conversion of the land from agricultural to agro-industrial before
the DAR notwithstanding the fact that prime agricultural lands are non-negotiable for conversion.
Quisumbing proudly proposed the establishment of a Development Academy of Mindanao, cultural
center, Institute for Livelihood Science, museum, library, golf course, and Mindanao Sports
Development Complex, Bukidnon Agro-Industrial Park, Forest Development and Support Facilities
including the construction of a 360-room hotel, restaurant and housing projects, among others.
Further, Quisumbing partnered with the LGUs of Sumilao and Province of Bukidnon where the latter
illegally passed Resolution No. 24 and Resolution No. 94-95, respectively, allowing the conversion of
the land despite the fact that LGUs have no power of conversion under the law as the same belongs
to the DAR Secretary.
The DAR Secretary denied the application because of its patent invalidity. On appeal to the Office of
the President, Executive Secretary Ruben Torres issued the infamous Torres Resolution approving the
application for conversion despite its illegality. Left of no more recourse, the Mapalad farmers decided
to do the only non-violent and peaceful means their forefathers taught them during unpeaceful times
— a Hunger Strike. For 28 days, the Mapalad farmers ate nothing but drank only water in front of the
DAR Office in the cities of Quezon and Cagayan de Oro. Their peaceful protest caught the interest of
the public: Cardinal Sin, including presidential wannabees Erap, Renato De Villa, and several
senatoriables, LGUs and the House of Representatives.
Due to huge public pressure, President Ramos issued the so-called “Win-win Resolution” wherein
100 hectares were to be given to the farmers while 44 hectares to Quisumbing. It was a pleasant victory
for the Mapalad farmers and the whole peasant sector. However, their victory was short-lived.
Quisumbing brought the same before the Supreme Court. Mapalad, as farmer beneficiaries of the 144,
intervened in the case and raised novel questions such as the validity of conversion of prime
agricultural lands which are supposedly non-negotiable for conversion, the power of reclassification
of LGUs vis-à-vis DAR’s authority to approve conversions, and the validity of the comprehensive
agrarian reform law itself.
Unexpectedly, the Supreme Court evaded the resolution of the substantial issues of the case and found
one perfect excuse: reglementary periods. The Supreme Court refused to answer the constitutional
issues and asserted that the DAR failed to question the Torres Resolution on time. The Supreme Court
skirted merits and yielded to technicalities. The questionable Torres Resolution was reinstated while
the “Win-win Resolution” was invalidated. Worst, it denied Mapalad’s intervention by equivocally
saying they were merely “recommendee farmer beneficiaries”, hence, have no real interest over the
lan d. Mapalad’s dream of regaining their ancestral land vanished in seconds. They lost to numbers.
Several years have passed since then yet the 144 hectare land remains idle. Not one of those proposed
development projects and infrastructures by Quisumbing ever materialized. The “promises” of
economic vitality, employment and increase in income, leaves much to be desired as everything was
a “castle in the air”. Apparently, the Quisumbings have successfully fooled the Mapalad farmers and
the peasant sector, local government units, national government, Supreme Court, and the Filipino
people in general, by such empty “promises” of development in order to circumvent the coverage of
the 144 hectare ancestral land and evade the implementation of genuine agrarian reform in the
country.
As a non-violent way of protesting the more than 10 years of injustice they have gone through in trying
to reclaim their ancestral land, 50 “lumad” farmers belonging to the Mapalad Multi-purpose
Cooperative (MPC) will march on foot from their hometown of Sumilao, Bukidnon in the south to
the capital city of Manila in the north from October 10 to December 10