By Reynard Magtoto | Baretang Bikolnon
LEGAZPI CITY, Albay – Farmers in Bula, Camarines Sur are facing threats of eviction from their land. The reason? Non-residents of Bula are claiming ownership over the land that the farmers have been cultivating for decades.
“We’ve been living there for so long. Sometimes I can’t sleep thinking about how it happened that we are now facing eviction,” said Vicente Marmol, a farmer who resides and cultivates the land in Brgy. Pawili, Bula municipality.
“If you ask me how long I’ve been on this land, I was still young when we started here. I already have a grandchild so it’s surprising that someone has come out with a title after such a long time. I’m already 63 years old. This land is where we make our living,” Marmol added.
Marmol is among the affected residents of an impending demolition of their homes in Brgy. Fabrica and Pawili, located between the National Highway and National Railways in Bula.
According to Portico Banasi Household Farmers Association (PORBAHFA), approximately 200 residents are affected on the land disputes due to legal cases stemming from the contracts of Conrado Colarina with Ruby Shelters Builders and Development Corporation (RSBDC) and the Tan family, who are not legitimate residents of their barangays.
Without their prior knowledge, farmers were implicated in the two civil cases.
The affected residents, around 20 individuals, were ordered by the local court to vacate the 30,000-sq.m parcel of land located in Brgy. Fabrica under Civil Case No. P–2653. It is a case filed by the Tan Family represented by Alan L. Tan against residents staying in the parcel of land.
Meanwhile, around 186 settlers from Brgy. Pawili and Fabrica will be affected by the demolition under Civil Case No. P–2090 filed by Colarina against the RSBDC. The case here is still ongoing. In fact, there was a court hearing on February 4, 2026 on the farmers’ request to set aside the Notices to Vacate and the Writ of Demolition.
Marmol’s family is affected in the Civil Case No. P-2090. The Tan family also claims the 8,853-sq.m parcel of land that Marmol is cultivating.
“All I know is that Colarina and Ruby Shelters have been involved in the lawsuit. That’s all I know. We weren’t the ones being sued, so why would they evict us from our land?” said PORBAHFA Acting President Eduardo Baliber.
According to Baliber, 67, Colarina and the Tan family are not residents in the said barangays. “Actually, we have never seen them and we do not know them. When we participated in the hearing, we only met their lawyer so we do not know them,” he said.
“This is where we live. Since 1965, we had a tax declaration to pay taxes, so we’ve been living there for a long time,” said Baliber who pays his dues on their 0.8736-hectare agricultural land in Brgy. Fabrica at the Bula Office of the Municipal Treasurer under his father’s name, Cecilio.
On February 14, PORBAHFA joined the One Billion Rising Forum to mark the seventh year of RA 11203 or the Rice Liberalization Law. The issue of land-grabbing, land use conversion, and lack of aid and subsidies for farmers were discussed among the members apart from calling for the repeal of the Rice Liberalization Law.
“There are women who are farmers and farm workers, so it is necessary to participate in the discussion of women farmers. Women must unite and dare to fight,” said Regina Barbacena, KMB spokesperson.
According to Barbacena, PORBAHFA members must unite and work together. “For a very long time, since their ancestors, their parents, who administered and developed the land they cultivate, they will fight for that. They are in an actual position and are actually cultivating their lands,” she said.
“Those who supported us, we are grateful because if it weren’t for them we wouldn’t know what to do. We didn’t know that this is really the problem with land issues,” Baliber said.
At present, the target land survey of those who claim their lands is threatening the community. Despite the uncertainty, the affected farmers remain steadfast in their commitment to stand for their agricultural lands. They have intensified their call for a consolidation of their group, the PORBAHFA.
Among the members committed is farmer Ana Brizuela, 64, who came late in the One Billion Rising Forum. According to her, she was guarding her land, in case someone came and surveyed it without her knowledge.
“That’s why it’s so difficult for us who are poor to just be evicted,” Brizuela said. Her family will be obliged to vacate the 700-sq. m lot registered under the Tan family by virtue of a local court ruling.
“It is not just the legal papers that we possess. We also have our plants as evidence. We have grown these trees — there are mango, coconut, jackfruit and star apple trees,” said Brizuela.
“We are poor. If they take us away from our land, what will happen to our families?” Baliber asked.
“We cannot accept it,” Marmol said.
