The Cry for Justice: Betrayal of the Poor, Plunder of the Land
Kim’s Dream Orlan Ravanera
Today, we speak not in silence but in unity. We raise our collective voice with a firm and determined intent: to fight for social justice, to expose the truth, and to correct a grave wrong that has mocked our Constitution and trampled upon the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (RA 8371). What we face is not a mere local dispute but a reflection of a national crisis, one that affects Indigenous Peoples, farmers, and the Filipino people as a whole.
At the center of this struggle lies a painful reality: the very government office mandated to protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples has instead betrayed its sworn duty and deprived communities of their lifeline. A vivid example of this betrayal can be seen in the plight of the Silmonan family. Since 1946, they have cultivated their ancestral land with hard work, sacrifice, and love, passing it on through generations as both a home and a source of livelihood. Yet despite this long stewardship, their land was unjustly taken and handed over to a man of influence, Edgar Neri, a man who has never tilled the soil for even a single day.
How did such injustice happen? The answer is as shocking as it is familiar. In 2016, a government officer, MARO Edilberto de Vesa, issued a fraudulent Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) in Neri’s favor. His decision was not grounded in truth, law, or justice, but in the false testimony of an Indigenous People’s Mandatory Representative (IPMR) who betrayed the sacred duty entrusted to him by his community. With the stroke of a pen, decades of labor, ancestral ties, and a family’s lifeline were erased.
May we respectfully raise this fundamental question: Can the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) lawfully issue a Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) without first conducting thorough verification as to who are the actual occupants and tillers of the land? By the very mandate of agrarian reform, the CLOA is intended to recognize and protect the rights of genuine farmers and Indigenous Peoples who have long occupied and cultivated the land. Yet in this case, such basic requirement of validation appears to have been disregarded.
It has been openly admitted by the Municipal Agrarian Reform Officer (MARO) himself that neither he nor any of his personnel ever visited the contested area prior to the issuance of the CLOA. This serious omission is further attested by several respected tribal chieftains who can categorically declare that the supposed beneficiaries listed are fictitious. Even more troubling is the admission of the Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR) who, after falsely testifying, later confessed before the community leaders that his testimony was untrue.
In light of these facts, one cannot help but ask: Why has the DAR, despite being confronted with clear evidence of irregularity, not moved to correct this grave injustice? Instead of rectifying the error, the agency has even secured a decision from the DAR Adjudication Board (DARAB) ordering the eviction of the Silmonan family, an Indigenous household that has long occupied and depended on the land for survival. Such action not only contradicts the spirit of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law but also constitutes a blatant violation of the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (RA 8371), which recognizes the ancestral rights of Indigenous communities to their lands and resources. More than a technical lapse, this represents a profound social injustice that undermines the very purpose of agrarian reform to uplift the poor, the landless, and the marginalized.
The case of the Silmonan family is thus not merely an isolated legal dispute; it is emblematic of a wider national problem where bureaucratic negligence, false testimonies, and disregard for community voices combine to dispossess the weak in favor of the powerful. It calls for urgent correction, accountability, and a reaffirmation of the law’s true spirit: to serve justice, protect the vulnerable, and ensure that land reform remains an instrument of equity, not oppression.
This is not only a legal travesty, it is a betrayal of trust, of the people, and of God. Public office is a public trust, yet too many government institutions have become dens of corruption, where greed prevails over justice. When those sworn to uphold the law instead commit acts of fraud, democracy itself collapses into nothing more than an empty slogan.
The case of the Silmonans is not an isolated incident. Across Mindanao, and throughout the Philippines, Indigenous Peoples and farmers are being systematically driven away from their ancestral lands. This painful reality was brought to national attention by journalist Ceazar Soriano through three episodes of his PTV4 program Magandang Gabi Pilipinas. The series carried the theme Agaw Lupa, Agaw Tubig, Agaw Buhay. It revealed that more than 101 Indigenous leaders in Mindanao have already been killed extrajudicially, targeted simply because they resisted land and water grabs by the powerful.
Military reservations are declared over Indigenous territories. Plantations expand without consent. Mining and logging operations devastate forests and rivers. Corporations are given free rein to plunder natural resources while local communities are left impoverished. Today, more than 42,000 hectares of ancestral domain remain under threat of displacement and destruction.
Behind these displacements lie the same destructive forces: greed, power, and the exploitative logic of corporate globalization. Indigenous territories are sacrificed at the altar of profit, while the very communities that have safeguarded these lands for centuries are pushed aside. What is at stake is not just land, it is culture, identity, livelihood, and the future of generations yet to come.
That is why we say: enough! Enough of betrayal, enough of the mockery of justice, enough of a system that rewards the powerful while punishing the powerless. We gather today because we believe in the promise of truth: Veritas liberabit vos, “the truth shall set us free.”
Let it be declared: no one is above the law. Not the rich, not the powerful, not the corrupt. We bow only to the majesty of justice not to money, not to guns, not to influence. Yet we see a society where corruption thrives and power dictates outcomes. Public projects such as so-called flood control programs remind us how greed poisons our institutions, leaving ordinary citizens drowning in poverty and deceit. But we refuse to be silent. We refuse to surrender. We will speak. We will rise. We will resist. Because true wealth is not measured by money, fame, or power. True wealth is found in love, in justice, and in service to one another. The Scriptures remind us that everything is meaningless if it is not rooted in justice and compassion. Christ himself declared: “Deny thyself.” Yet what do we see today? A humanity worshipping false gods, the god of money, the idol of consumerism, the empire of greed.
That is why we declare with conviction: “Walang sinuman ang nabubuhay para sa sarili lamang. Tayong lahat ay may pananagutan sa isa’t isa!” No one lives for themselves alone. We all share responsibility for one another.
We stand not only for the Silmonan family but for every Indigenous community robbed of ancestral land, for every farmer dispossessed of soil and livelihood, and for every Filipino denied dignity and the right to live in peace. This is not just a struggle over land. It is a struggle for life itself.
Therefore, we issue this collective call: To the Government: Fulfill your sworn duty. Serve the people, not the powerful few. Justice delayed is justice denied, and every day of inaction deepens the wound of injustice. To the Filipino People: Stand with us. Do not allow silence to become complicity. Injustice thrives when good people fail to act. To the World: Hear our cry. Our struggle is not only about property, it is about human dignity, culture, the environment, and the very future of humanity. Here is another painful experience of a tribal family who almost lost their ancestral domain that their ancestors have been occupying since time immemorial when a certain Jacob Neri attempted to drive them out by simply putting-up a tarpaulin claiming that land as his as he is the one paying for the land taxes. The claimant even stop the family’s ritual to harass them in gross violation of the IPRA Law. The family asked the intervention of the local government unit and in the presence of the municipal assessor categorically asked whether a tax certificate is a proof of ownership more then the family’s occupancy, stating categorically that the claimant while showing a tax declaration has never lived in the ancestral domain even for a day? The Assessor answered never thus the land-grabbing attempt did not prosper. The tribal family narrated how the claimant stop their ritual ceremony which is glaringly a violation of the IPRA Law and requested that the violator be made accountable. But his political influence is stronger than the law. Until now, Mr. Jacob Neri is employing tactics to oust the Datu Ramon family from their ancestral domain as the five-hectare domain is located at the barangay center oozing with the beauty of nature with a flowing river nearby. News is spreading that their ancestral domain will form part of the 4th ID camp as the camp in Patag CDO has been sold to the Ayala Foundation for 100 billion pesos. Such painful experience of the Acuman family has reinforced the painful truism that militarization is gaining ground at the expense of the Indigenous Peoples. The Acuman’s ancestral and will command a gargantuan price when sold to the foreign investors as it is oozing with natural beauty, rich in minerals and water supply. That’s how powerful people are so desirous of owning vast tracts lands with water supply which the foreign investors will transform into massive plantations.
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