Makabayan wants gov't to look into alleged conflict of interest with DENR chief in Palawan ranch 

ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro (PPAB)

The militant Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives is calling for an investigation on the alleged conflict of interest involving Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Ma. Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga over the family-owned Yulo King Ranch. 

ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro, a member of the militant bloc, questioned Yulo-Loyzaga's acceptance of the DENR post last year despite knowing that her family’s Yulo King Ranch--located in Palawan--was embroiled in petitions seeking the distribution of land to farmers beneficiaries under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). 

“Kailangan naman tignan din ng Marcos administration itong problema ng ating mga magsasaka dyan sa Yulo ranch (The Marcos administration must look into the problem of farmers at the Yulo ranch)," Castro said in an interview with House reporters. 

Referring to the farmers' complaints, she said: "It is about time that the land they are tilling be distributed to them." 

Castro, a House deputy minority leader, said the Makabayan solons filed back in July 2016 a resolution seeking a congressional probe on the issue. 

While it is not clear if they will refile the resolution in the current 19th Congress, she said that they would look itnto the farmers' concerns regarding the DENR chief's alleged conflict of interest with the Yulo King Ranch. 

“Pag-aaralan nga natin yung tungkol dyan dahil may mga kaso daw na pangangamkam ng lupain dyan sa lugar na yan at yun nga ang sinasabi ng ating mga magsasaka, may conflict of interest,” she said. 

(We will study that because there are said to be cases of land-grabbing there according to our farmers, there's conflict of interest.) 

“Well sa DAR (Department of Agrarian Reform) ano, sana tingnan din yung hinaing ng ating mga magsasaka dyan…at kung makikita yung conflict of interest dyan ng Sec. Yulo sana ang DENR ay imbestigahan din yan dahil syempre ang ating mga magsasaka dapat ang nagmamay-ari ng kanilang mga lupang sinasaka dyan,” added Castro. 

(As for the DAR, hopefully they look into the complaints of farmers there...and if there's conflict of interest there with Sec. Yulo then hopefully the DENR probes this too because it's our farmers who should own the lands they are tilling there.) 

House Resolution (HR) No.50 says that the Yulo King Ranch (YKR) Corp. came into being when 39,238.93 hectares of land in Coron and Busuanga in Palawan was declared by the first Marcos administration as pasture reserve via Proclamation 1387. 

The Makabayan noted that there were already farmers cultivating the land even before Proclamation 1387 was issued. 

Reports said that the farmers were given “token” compensation by YKR Corp.