Daybreak

When the cock crows at nearly dawn, it indicates that the sun will soon rise and consequently will give light and warmth upon the earth. It’s another new day to live. There’s hope and opportunities. That is Tio Tony’s viewpoint why he is very fond of roosters since his youth. No matter how long he had slept, they always remind him to get up and keep on going. This is the story of Mr. Antonio Sicad Jetajobe or Tio Tony as he opts to be called. He is a farmworker /tenant who got his break in life through the land awarded to him under the Land Tenure Services and Agrarian Justice Delivery, both crucial components of the CARP.

His success story highlights the significance and importance of the interventions of DAR’s program on land acquisition and distribution and delivery of agrarian justice.

At a young age, Tio Tony is already helping his father, Mr. Pacifico Jetajobe in the coconut land located at Brgy. Macabog, Sorsogon City formerly owned by Cecilio Paras. “We used to sleep in the agunan during the making of copra so that we can watch it carefully. Today, it’s already my wife who accompanied me,” said Tio Tony.

When his work in coconut land was through, he will go to his roosters. If girls are fond of dolls, he is fond of roosters to play. It removes his exhaustion from a tiresome day work. That’s why for him, as an upland farmer, if carabao is a partner in working, rooster is a partner in relaxing. This is usually his daily routine until the full responsibility of taking care of the land was left to him as his father passed away. That time, the sharing practice every cropping is fifty percent (50%) for him and fifty percent (50%) to the landowner. That is after the deduction of inputs such as expenses in weeding, coconut harvesting or gathering, husking, pag-tigkal, and hauling. But this inputs were came from the farmer not from the landowner. Thus, he needed an extra job to sustain the farming activities. Fortunately, the Sorsogon Water District hired him as Watch Man of the water pump located in their barangay. Later, he became a regular employee. “Well, the activities in copra farming are usually occur every after forty five days only. So, there is so much time to do other jobs. Weeding can be done during Saturdays,” explained Tio Tony. Usually, he borrows his capital to the copra buyer which is to be deducted upon their delivery of copras, without interest.

One day, while relaxing with his roosters, he heard over the radio that agrarian reform is being implemented and the land he is cultivating is under the coverage of the program. The information he heard was confirmed by Ignacio Salandanan, Jr., the Agrarian Reform Program Technologist (ARPT) assigned in their area who came to personally informed them. Upon the ARPT’s instruction, they went to the Department of Agrarian Reform to register as a bonafide tenant.

Meanwhile that the land acquisition and distribution (LAD) is still in the process, he continue what he used to do in the land especially in the giving of fifty percent share to the landowner. Not long after, he was able to produce seven college graduates out of his thirteen children. “Two of them are graduates in Computer Science, another two are graduates in Automotive, one is a graduate of midwifery, then the other is a graduate of Civil Technology, and the other one is a graduate of Mechanical Technology. Next school year, one of my sons will be graduating in Electronics,” said Tio Tony. One of his two children who graduated in Computer Science had pursued nursing and now she is already a Nurse in the United States. Other children who did not pursue their college education are the ones who help him in the farm.

The acquisition of that land took long due to strong resistance on the part of the landowner such as finding ways to be exempted from CARP coverage. The subject landholding was under CARP coverage since August 6, 2007 with thirteen (13) tenants including Tio Tony. However, the heirs of the landowner filed an application for the issuance of exemption clearance. Despite the order of the regional director to dismiss the case on December 28, 2007 with order of Finality on February 20, 2009, the landowner still persisted for its exclusion, that’s why it was only on February 1, 2012 that the Certificate of Landownership Award (CLOA) was distributed to him. “I was so happy as MARO De Jesus and ARPT Salandanan handed to me the land title with my name in it. It’s a daybreak in my life,” said Tio Tony.

But the landowner still filed to the City Agrarian Reform Office their Sworn Application for Exemption Clearance with the Notice of Exemption Clearance on April 23, 2012. This was followed by their filing for Petition for Exemption at DAR Central Office on May 29, 2012. Likewise, they submitted to CLUPPI Secretariat the requirements that were asked to them by the said office. On June 15-16, 2012 the CLUPPI Inspection Team conducted an on-site inspection and investigation on the subject landholding. On the other hand, MARO Luzviminda De Jesus who is fighting for the rights of the farmer-tenants sent them the copy of Order of Finality to show them that landowners’ Petition for Exemption has been dismissed. On December 4, 2012 the CLUPPI Secretariat has ordered the MARO to submit Comprehensive Status Report regarding this land. That time, the MARO in Sorsogon City is MARO Norberto Laguna who complied promptly to the CLUPPI Secretariat’s order. However, it seems that they did not receive it, so MARO Laguna sent again the MARO Comprehensive Report on Jan. 8, 2013. In his report, he had mentioned that the said landholding is planted with coconuts and other fruit bearing trees which has several tenants. It is also stated there that the landholding is a twenty two (22) hectares agricultural land but since there was already a five (5) hectares Notice of Attachment issued by the Regional Trial Court, Fifth Judicial Region, Sorsogon, Sorsogon under Civil Case No. 96-6222, RTC Branch 51 concerning the property before its documentation, only 17.1615 hectares of it was subjected for coverage which includes the area of Tio Tony.

Furthermore, the landholding is also a recipient of two (2) denied Orders and Orders of Finality as a result of the Petitions filed by the landowners. It was issued a Notice of Coverage through publication dated August 6, 2007, was duly documented and was issued a Memorandum of Valuation by the Land Bank of the Philippines in January 4, 2011. MARO Laguna also mentioned in the status of his report that the identified ARBs of the subject land were already issued their CLOAs a few months before the CLUPPI inspection and are currently paying their monthly amortization at the Land Bank of the Philippines.

     In spite of the odds, the family of Tio Tony went on with what they had started in the land. They had intercropped the coconuts with cacao, banana, rambutan, guyabano, and pineapple. They had also replaced the aging coconuts with new ones. According to him, these are the things which they can’t do prior to the implementation of CARP.

Antonio S. Jetajobe, Sr. in his coconut farm

Then he had increased his collection of cocks. Right now, he had forty five (45) roosters ready for cockfight. It only started with a couple of chicken which he had bought amounting P100.00 when he was still young and single. Sometimes, there are fellow cock-lovers who want to buy cocks that he sold P1,000.00 to P2,500.00 each. But his main purpose for collecting roosters is for pleasure not for business.

With the intercropped cacao, his wife, Aurora was able to make tablea purposely for household consumption but when there is excess, she sell it in the neighborhood for P10.00 per dozen. Likewise, their bananas, when there is excess for household consumption they sell it in the neighborhood. Lately, they earned P1,000.00. The other fruits they gathered are mainly for household consumption.

As to their coconuts, they spend P4,000.00 for the start of production of 2,000 gathered cocofruits. After processing into copra they got an earnings of P22,440.00. Then, they were also able to make thirteen (13) sacks of charcoal from its coco shell which amounts to P2,600.00 when sold, but usually they prefer to keep it for household consumption. At present, they sell the coconuts as fruits, just like what other coconut farmers were doing. “I found it much better because from the two thousand two hundred coconuts we gathered, we earned P22,500.00. The good thing is, we didn’t spend any capital for it. The disadvantage is, we don’t have charcoal,” said Tio Tony.

They were glad to hear that there are already geotextiles processing in the province. They are looking forward to know how their cocohusks can be purchased by those who managed geotextiles processing.

“Without the agrarian reform program, we cannot escape the fifty-fifty sharing scheme with the landowner and we cannot do whatever we want to do in this land. That’s why we thanked God for this opportunity.We are also grateful to Salandanan and De Jesus because without their effort and determination, I don’t know if we can win this fight,” said Tio Tony.

Unlike other farmers who benefited from Program Beneficiaries’ Development, Tio Tony sustains his farm from other sources, such as from his salary in Sorsogon Water District. It is because his farm is in a non-ARC area and there is no available ARB Organization in his area where he can be a member. Aside from that, he doesn’t want to try borrowing money from Microfinance Projects because according to him, he would rather borrow from his own savings because there will be no collector who will look for him everyday, and there’s no need for him to pay the interest because it is his own money. Eventhough he did not avail the support services from DAR, it did not discourage him from developing his farm. Instead, his philosophy about farming is: “Farming is good because it is where we get food. But don’t just rely to it for your living if you want a better quality of life. Look for a full time job that can sustain the family’s needs as well as for the maintenance of the farm. Remember, we have three basic needs to live: food, shelter, and clothing. In a family-size farm, we can only get ‘food’, to have ‘shelter’ and ‘clothing’ you must have a high paying job. There are countries that are prosperous and agriculture is abundant because farming is just a part time job for them. That’s why I sent my children to college so that with high paying jobs outside, agriculture can be sustained.”

The family of Antonio Jetajobe, Sr. (L-R: his son, Arnel;
his wife Auror; Tio Tony; his daughter, Alma; and his son,
Aaron). His other ten children are already
working in different places.

Soon, Tio Tony will be retiring from Sorsogon Water District. His plan after retirement aside from going to cockfights is to improve his coconut land so that it will be more pleasing in the eyes of his family especially when his children would come home for vacation. And for sure, Tio Tony’s roosters will always be a part of the landscape he’s planning to do in his coconut farm to remind him to get up at daybreak.   [aaj]