Armed Forces chief Gen. Gregorio Catapang Jr. is seen in this 2015 photo praying at a thanksgiving Mass. About 200 farmers in Nueva Ecija sued Catapang and two other military officers for allegedly seizing parts of their farm lands two years ago. Armed Forces/File
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Gregorio Catapang Jr. is ready to answer the class suit filed by farmers who have accused him of land grabbing.
About 200 farmers in Nueva Ecija sued Catapang and two other military officers for allegedly seizing parts of their farm lands two years ago.
A civil case for forcible entry has also been filed against Catapang and Lt. Cols. Benito Doniego Jr. and Alfredo Patarata. Catapang was the commander of the Army's 7th division based in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija when the alleged land grabbing took place.
The farmers claimed they have been tilling the 200-hectare farm land in Caballero and Ganaderia for years. The petitioners, however, were later on informed that the farm lands are part of a military reservation by authority of a proclamation issued by then President Ramon Magsaysay in 1955.
In 2006, the Arroyo administration issued another proclamation that included the 200 hectares among the areas for a housing project for soldiers.
Farmers claimed that in 2013, Catapang instructed Doniego and Ganaderia to enter their farm land and inform them that they would be ejected because of a plan to build a detachment for government militias.
Some petitioners want President Benigno Aquino III to defer the release of Catapang's retirement benefits until the case is resolved. Catapang will bow out of the service on July 11.
The military, however, is unfazed by the farmers' petitions.
"The AFP Chief of Staff is ready to face the class suit that would be filed against him related to the conflict between the AFP and a group of farmers who claimed a 200-hectare military reservation in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija," AFP public affairs chief Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc said in a statement issued Sunday.
"Gen. Catapang is ready to sacrifice his retirement benefits just to fight for the AFP and the soldiers who will benefit from the off-base housing facilities to be put up on the said land," he added.
Cabunoc called on the farmers to respect the decision of the Palayan City Regional Trial Court Branch 40, which ordered them to vacate the military reservation area.
The farmers got a favorable ruling from the municipal trial court when they filed a civil case for forcible entry in 2013. The Palayan City RTC, however, reversed the MTC ruling the following year.
http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/06/28/1470944/afp-chief-ready-face-class-suit-against-him
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