MANILA – The Supreme Court has directed Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano and the Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Magbubukid sa Hacienda Luisita (AMBALA) to explain “why they should not be held in contempt of court for disobeying an SC decision dated July 5, 2011 and Resolutions dated November 22, 2011 and April 24, 2012”.
The Show Cause Order, dated May 3, 2017, arose from RCBC’s Motion filed with the Supreme Court on April 27, 2017, asserting that DAR Secretary Mariano had violated the Supreme Court decision which directed the DAR to segregate, among other parcels, a 500-hectare lot that had already been converted into industrial land under a conversion order issued by the DAR itself.
Included in this area is the 184 hectares belonging to RCBC.
The Bank also argued that the Supreme Court had already ruled that the conditions of the conversion order covering the property had been complied with.
RCBC ran to the SC on April 27 for relief after what it called “supposed farmer-workers and various militant groups” staged a rally in front of RCBC properties on April 24, 2017, “claiming rights thereto pursuant to the DAR’s revocation order.” The rally later on escalated to violence against RCBC’s personnel and destruction of its properties, the Bank said in a statement issued Thursday (May 11).
The DAR, meanwhile was likewise required to comment on RCBC’s Motion, according to the bank’s lawyer, Atty.George Dela Cuesta.