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DAR chief: Alleged VP Binay property in Batangas may have been illegally converted
By ANDREO CALONZO, GMA News
Vice President Jejomar Binay’s alleged property in Batangas may have been illegally converted from agricultural to commercial land in violation of the agrarian reform law, Agrarian Reform chief Virgilio de los Reyes said Monday.
At the continuation of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee’s hearings on alleged anomalies involving Binay, de los Reyes said his department is looking at the possibility of filing cases against those involved in the conversion of the controversial Sunchamp Agri-Tourism Park in Rosario, Batangas.
“We are looking at, within the SunChamp property, properties which have been transformed for non-agricultural uses. There is a possibility of premature conversion or illegal conversion. What we are doing right now is that we are coordinating with the provincial prosecutor,” the Cabinet official told senators.
Republic Act 6657 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law prohibits the “conversion by any landowner of his agricultural land into any non-agricultural use with intent to avoid the application of this act to landholdings and to dispose tenant farmers of the land tilled by them.”
The DAR chief added that his department is also considering the cancellation of certificates of land ownership award (CLOA) of agrarian reform beneficiries who sold or abandoned their land around the Sunchamp property without notifying the government.
De los Reyes explained that the DAR found 17 CLOAs within the Sunchamp property owned by four individuals. He added that the DAR has already required these individuals to come forward and cooperate in the department’s probe.
The Cabinet official further said that the DAR found out that there was no record of any sale of any property of the current Sunchamp land, and that all the CLOAs that were given in the six barangays surrounding the controversial property are all active.
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, for his part, proposed that the owners of the CLOAs within the Sunchamp property be invited to the Senate hearing.
“Ang plano natin papatawag natin ang mga taong ito. Hindi pwedeng abogado ang haharap. Malalaman natin kung sino talaga ang bumili sa kanila ng kanilang lupa,” Trillanes said during Monday’s hearing.
Businessman Antonio Tiu earlier claimed ownership of the 145 hectares of land that is Sunchamp Agri-Tourism Park. Binay’s critics, however, are insisting that the vice president owns the property.
Binay has repeatedly denied this accusation, describing it as politically motivated. — RSJ, GMA News
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