GARCHITORENA LAND SCAM

One of the challenges that rocked on President Cory Aquino’s administration was the
Garchitorena Land Scam. The scam involved a 1, 888-hectare Garchitorena estate located in
Camarines Sur. The said estate was a former abaca plantation that was no longer useful for
cultivation.
On the 27th of April, 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. On the other hand, on the 14 th of May, 1988, before the sale was
consummated, Sharp International Marketing tried to sell the estate to our government for
P56 million under CARP's Voluntary Offer to Sell (VOS) program. The said offer of Sharp was
approved by the DAR’s Provincial Office where the P56 M that was already inflated price
was further jacked up to 65 M. On the 28 th of December, 1988, Philip Juico - DAR Secretary
authorized the Land Bank to release payment to Sharp International Marketing amounting
to P62.7 M.
The payment order was returned by the Land Bank when it found out that one year
before the Garchitorena estate had been acquired by Sharp International Marketing for
only 3.8M. Then, Sharp went to the Supreme Court to force the release of 62.7M payment.
On the other hand, Land Bank went to the Congress to expose the deal. On the 13 th of May,
1989, the scam was exploded in the media because Rep. Edcel Lagman disclosed the details
to the House-Senate Committee.
Pres. Cory Aquino was accused of knowing about the deal at least one month before it
was exposed in Congress. On the 6th of June, 1989 a report of the Philippine Daily Inquirer,
Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile said Father Joaquin Bernas told Pres. Aquino about the illicit
Garchitorena deal that was about to take place on April 1, 1989. On the 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 Pres. Aquino about the deal. On the 5 th of April, 1989, Aquino met with the DAR
and Land Bank Heads. Then, sharp petitioned the Supreme Court to enforce the P62.7M
payment. The scam was still exposed in Congress although Juico stopped the payment
order.
Pres. Cory was also linked to the major financier behind the land deals, Romeo Santos
- who had provided the funds for the land purchase to Sharp president Alex Lina.
Throughout the 1970’s to 80’s, he had been selling land to DAR. Romeo Santos was an
associate of the President’s brother and became a family friend who played a key role in
Aquino’s campaign against President Marcos in Bicol. Santos was married to Maria
Magdalena Garchitorena whose family originally owned the Grachitorena estate.