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Cory Aquino was accused of knowing about the deal at least one month before it was exposed in Congress. She was also linked to the financier behind the deal, a family friend who played a key role in Aquino's campaign against President Marcos in Bicol. The scam involved the 1,888-hectare Garchitorena estate in Camarines Sur, a former abaca plantation that was no longer useful for cultivation. 
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P3.8 million land sold for P62.7 million 
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On April 27, 1988, the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) agreed to sell one of its foreclosed properties, the Garchitorena estate, to Sharp International Marketing for P3.8 million. 
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On May 14, 1988, before the sale was consummated, Sharp tried to sell the estate to the government for P56 million under CARP's Voluntary Offer to Sell (VOS) program. 
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(Under VOS, landowners could voluntarily sell land to the government which the government then distributed to farmers at cost. The VOS opened the door to plenty of collusion between landowners and officials of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). Lands were offered to the government at inflated prices, and purchased with taxpayers' money. The profits from the overpricing were then pocketed by landowners, brokers, and DAR officials.) 
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Sharp's offer to sell the Garchitorena estate was approved by the provincial office of the DAR, where the already inflated price of P56 million was further jacked up to P65 million. 
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On December 28, 1988, DAR Secretary Philip Juico authorized the Land Bank to release payment to Sharp. The amount in his payment order was P62.7 million. 
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Land Bank exposes scam 
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The payment order was returned by the Land Bank when it found out that the Garchitorena estate had been acquired by Sharp for only P3.8 million one year before. 
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Sharp went to the Supreme Court to force the release of the P62.7 million payment. The Land Bank went to Congress to expose the deal. The scam exploded in the media when Rep. Edcel Lagman disclosed the details to the House-Senate Committee on May 13, 1989. 
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Enrile: Cory knew about scam 
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In a June 6, 1989 report of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Senate Minority Floor Leader Juan Ponce Enrile said Father Joaquin Bernas told President Aquino about the illicit Garchitorena deal about to take place on April 1, 1989. 
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"But only when the anomaly was leaked to the papers did she say anything about it," Enrile said. "I wonder what happened during this one month. Were there words of caution for (Secretary) Popoy Juico?" 
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In his 1992 book A Captive Land: The Politics of Agrarian Reform in the Philippines, London-based development studies expert Dr. James Putzel also mentioned that Father Bernas had informed President Aquino about the Garchitorena deal on April 1, 1989. Aquino then met with the DAR and Land Bank heads on April 5, 1989. Then, Sharp petitioned the Supreme Court to enforce the P62.7 million payment. Juico subsequently stopped the payment order, but the scam was still exposed in Congress.
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Putzel noted that throughout 1988 and early 1989, the Land Bank president Deogracias Vistan had been at odds with Juico over the implementation of CARP and the division of power between the Land Bank and the DAR. "Vistan used the controversy to bring down the DAR secretary and to secure LBP dominance over the land valuation procedure," Putzel wrote. "Subsequently, the bank was given full responsibility over land valuation, weakening DAR's position still further."
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The financier, an Aquino family friend 
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Putzel further noted that during the investigation after the scam, it was learned that UCPB's sale of the Garchitorena estate to Sharp was consummated only on December 5, 1988, suggesting that the bank was complicit in the fraud. UCPB had in fact already lined up another estate in Camarines Sur, the Liboro estate, for sale to Sharp. 
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Putzel wrote:
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"The major financier behind both land deals was Romeo Santos, who had provided the funds for the land purchase to Sharp president Alex Lina.  Santos had been selling land to DAR throughout the 1970s to 1980s. 
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"Romeo Santos was an associate of the President's brother, <b>Jose 'Peping' Cojuangco</b>. He became close to the family when he organized the Laban in Bicol and played a pivotal role in President Aquino's campaign against Marcos in the region. After Aquino came to office, her brother had urged Santos's appointment as manager of the Manila International Airport." 
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Romeo Santos was married to Maria Magdalena Garchitorena, whose family originally owned the Garchitorena estate. 
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Farmers the biggest victims
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Throughout the sordid affair, the country's farmers, as usual, were the biggest losers, because the government's land acquisition and distribution activities slowed down while the Garchitorena case was being investigated.
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Whenever the government acquired overpriced land, it also became pointless for the land to be awarded to farmers, because the farmers could no longer afford to pay the inflated cost. 
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<b>Sources</b>: 
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<ol class="article-sources">
<li>
The Garchitorena land scam by Stephanie Dy Chiu, January 22, 2010, GMA News Online (http://goo.gl/30b1Lp)
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<li>
Plagued by corruption from Macoy to PNoy, Pinoys pin hopes on Pope, January 16, 2015, InterAksyon.com
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</ol>


Cory Aquino's 1,888-hectare Garchitorena estate scam in Camarines Sur