By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Officials of ECJ Farm Workers Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Multi-Purpose Cooperative (EFARBEMPCO) yesterday said only the general assembly can decide on the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) that covers the distribution of 4,654 hectares of land of former Ambassador Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, Jr. (ECJ) which were subjected to the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) of the national government.
EFARBEMPCO Chairman Edgar dela Rama said their group disagrees with the demands of the ECJ Farmers and Farm Workers Alliance (EFFWAN) who wanted the revocation of the JVA and the cancellation of the Voluntary Land Transfer Direct Payment Scheme.
Dela Rama said the JVA will expire in 2024 and all its provisions were approved by the general assembly. He called on EFFWAN to instead wait for the expiration of the JVA.
EFARBEMPCO has 712 members of good standing. Their previous membership was 1,756. But 500 bolted and formed a breakaway faction while another 300 members have lost interest to stay in the group.
Dela Rama said, with the issuance of a collective certificate of land ownership (CLOA) to EFARBEMPCO, they cultivated the land and made it productive.
EFFWAN, meanwhile, reiterated their call for the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Central Office to revoke the 13-year old joint venture agreement signed between Cojuangco, EFARBEMPCO, and a group of farm workers who previously worked in the ECJ haciendas spread throughout Negros Occidental.
EFFWAN spokespersons Remy Lumauag and Rolando Ortillo explained the group, representing the 66 members of the EFFWAN, called on DAR to act on their demands so that legitimate Certificate of Land Ownership (CLOA) holders or beneficiaries can fully enjoy the land that they claimed they rightfully owned under the Land Reform Program of the national government.
EFFWAN members claimed that they have suffered enough out of their non-installation because they have lost their means of livelihood. And if the land will be distributed and given back to them, this can truly help them alleviate their economic well being including the welfare of their family.
They are asking DAR Secretary Rafael Mariano and also President Rodrigo Duterte to act on their demands.
“We want to see the seriousness of DAR and the present administration in finding solution to this nagging land conflict,” EFFWAN members said./WDJ