THE Victorias Milling Company Inc. (VMC) stressed that it owns and has the right to own the land where its distillery is located at Barangay Purisima in Manapla town in Negros Occidental.The company denied rumors that it has been encroaching on other people’s properties, and is willing to show its land title and other legal documents.“Certain areas in Manapla were zoned as industrial by proper authorities before the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (Carl) under R.A. No. 6657 took effect in 1988, and this includes VMC’s distillery. So as ordered by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in 2017 and 2019, the land where the VMC Manapla distillery is located has been ordered exempted from Carp,” its management said in a statement.In 2012, the Manapla Municipal Planning and Development Office issued a certification stating that the subject lands are zoned as industrial.A Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) Certificate was also issued stating that the subject lands are industrial.While the DAR has previously denied an Application for Exemption in 2017, the Land Use Cases Committee (LUCC) reversed the order and granted the application to VMC in 2019.“In the instant case, since the subject lands should not have been covered in the first place as they were no longer agricultural at the time of the issuance of Notice of Coverage (NOC), the prescriptive period will not run against VMC,” the LUCC said.VMC has called on its employees and the members of the Manapla community to remain steadfast and practice due diligence amid the rumor-mongering.“Let us not entertain or spread false information that may result in misunderstanding and confusion. This might affect our operations and put the members of our VMC family in danger,” the company said.VMC is one of the Philippines’ legacy companies. It is a leading producer of sugar and has been in operation since 1919.At present, it has a diversified business portfolio that includes food manufacturing and green energy development. (PR)