AGRARIAN Reform Secretary John R. Castriciones is asking agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) of the Davao-based Marsman Estate Plantation Inc. (MEPI) to resolve a long-standing issue with the banana exporter through continuous dialogue and negotiations.
Castriciones said in a radio interview that the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) decided last September 1 to “uphold and continue” the leaseback agreement between MEPI and the majority ARBs under the Davao Marsman Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Multi-Purpose cooperative (Damarb MPC).
“The important thing is that [the ARBs] continue to receive their benefits from a business organization [that] entered into an agreement with them originally,” he said.
“[The council members] had a discussion and we talked about how to resolve this motion. The first group, Damarb MPC—which is composed of more or less 700 farmers, and they are the majority—wants to set aside the first resolution [that] revoked the AVA [agribusiness venture arrangement] with MEPI. However, this other group opposed it and they are composed of only a few ARBs,” he added.
Castriciones warned that if the minority ARBs still opt to separate and claim their lands [that] are scattered across the plantation; then it would affect the whole plantation, which is one of the major banana exporters of the country.
“If this minority will separate, the lands that they have are located in different areas, i.e., some in the middle, some on the sides, which are separate. So, what happens is that if the land is given to them, there won’t be any value or meaning to the business and will affect the majority of the ARBs,” he said.
“The majority though voted that the first resolution should be set aside because it will affect the majority of the ARBs. Furthermore, the ARBs and MEPI already have a new agreement which basically says they will continue with their agribusiness venture agreement (AVA). The decision is not only favorable to MEPI but also to Damarb MPC [members]. The two [parties] want to continue with their AVA agreement,” he added.
Castriciones said the “will of the majority” will be followed and what the minority insists cannot be done “because the majority of the farmers will benefit as well as the corporation, which entered into this agreement with the beneficiaries.”
He added that even if the minority ARBs oppose the deal, they will continue to receive the same benefits that the majority beneficiaries are getting.
Last month, the Damarb MPC disclosed that it has decided to extend its lease agreement with banana exporter MEPI.
“The farmer-members have recognized the importance of having a lease contract with a stable company, which has become more significant these days as they face the challenges brought about by the pandemic that is affecting not only the country but the entire world,” Damarb MPC Chairman Hernando Rivero said.
Rivero said 697 or about 92 percent of the 762 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) of MEPI agreed to extend their respective contracts of lease while the other 164 ARBs chose to become independent banana growers.
“The other 164 ARBs who chose not to lease their lands to MEPI, like the members of Marsman Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Cooperative and later Marsman Individual Farming Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Cooperative opted to acquire the land through the ‘voluntary offer to sell’ scheme of DAR and to become independent growers,” he said.