By Manny Piñol
Coron, Palawan (Late Post) – The provincial government of Palawan and the Department of Agriculture (DA) agreed last week to join hands in addressing the problem of the encroachment of squatters into the 2,000-hectare cattle ranch operated by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI).
The illegal settlers, most of whom are not from Palawan, have occupied areas inside the ranch and are suspected to be behind the slaughter and abuse of cattle and horses some of which returned to the corrals with hack wounds and darts dangling from their bodies.
Valuable pasture grass imported from Australia and planted in the area many years ago is burned by the settlers who occupy an area by fencing it and building a hut.
Some of the squatters were believed to have sold the areas they occupied to other settlers who were enticed to come to the island which is now fast becoming a tourist destination.
The conflict between the illegal settlers numbering about 1,000 families and the guards of the DA-BAI ranch has already resulted in the killing of a leader of the squatters’ group.
Three employees of the DA-BAI, including a private security guard, have been charged with murder and are now held without bail in the Palawan Provincial Jail because of the case.
During the consultation which I and Gov. Jose “Pepito” Alvarez conducted with the village officials surrounding the ranch and the mayors of Coron and Busuanga towns, it was agreed that since it is now impossible to drive away the illegal settlers, they will be allocated an area where they will be given livelihood activities.
Gov. Alvarez, who proposed the Memorandum of Cooperation and Agreement between the DA-BAI and the Palawan Provincial Government, said it will be the responsibility of the Palawan LGU to ensure that there will be no more encroachments into the ranch.
The DA-BAI, on the other hand, will commit to sell to Palawan LGU the young cattle produced from the ranch to support the province’s livelihood program.
Additional livelihood activities like the growing of high value vegetables and raising of hogs and chicken for the booming tourism industry of Busuanga Island the other areas of Palawan will also be granted by the DA.
Initially, I committed two farm tractors, two for the farmers groups of Busuanga and another for the cattle ranch, to support the program.
Gov. Alvarez said that since an inventory of the number of settlers has already been conducted, other illegal settlers will be monitored by the local government and handled properly.
It is hoped that with the forging of the agreement between DA-BAI and the Palawan LGU, the problem of the encroachment by illegal settlers into the ranch and other private property nearby, the incidents involving the killing and hacking of animals and the on-going animosity between the settlers and the guards and employees of the ranch will finally end.
After the consultation, the local officials led by Gov. Alvarez expressed appreciation for the visit which I made as it finally resolved a problem which has bothered the community for almost a decade now.
(File photos of animals killed and wounded were provided by ranch manager Larry Lariosa while photos of the consultation with Palawan officials in the Westtown Hotel in Coron taken by Diane Faith Garcia.)
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