DAR to hand out 450 land titles in Hacienda Tinang in two weeks

THE DEPARTMENT of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has resolved the land ownership dispute in Hacienda Tinang in Concepcion, Tarlac in northern Philippines and will distribute 450 land titles covering 200 hectares of land in two weeks, its chief said on Tuesday.

The agency has come up with a ruling using “our formula of multiple shuttle diplomacy and constantly holding dialogues with the stakeholders,” Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado M. Estrella III told a news briefing.

“After we released the decision on this case, nobody appealed, no one protested,” he said in mixed English and Filipino. “This is final and executory.”

About 200 more agrarian reform cases would be resolved by May 31, Mr. Estrella said, adding that at least 500,000 hectares of land still need to be distributed to beneficiaries in the next five years.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. had ordered the Agrarian Reform department to resolve all pending agrarian reform cases and fast-track the distribution of land titles to farmers.

“The president instructed us from the beginning of his term to address all pending agrarian reform cases because the president definitely subscribes to the adage that justice delayed is justice denied,” Mr. Estrella said. Some of these cases have been pending for two decades, he said.

He said his agency had abolished unfilled positions and created higher-paying posts for lawyers to help them ease the backlog in agrarian cases.

DAR would continue to provide support services to farmers including machinery and equipment, he added.

Former Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael V. Mariano said the Hacienda Tinang case was resolved because of the continued protests of farmers and through dialogues with the government.

“The Tinang estate case is just one case,” he said in a statement in Filipino. “There are still hundreds of unresolved land cases that have yet to be decided by DAR.”

“The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas is always open to discussions with Secretary Estrella to help resolve these land cases,” added Mr. Mariano, who is a former chairman of the farmer’s group.

KMP earlier urged the Marcos Jr. government to push new laws that would deter land-grabbing and ensure fair land distribution.

“Eight months into his administration, we have yet to hear from President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on farmer’s demand for a new and genuine agrarian reform program to replace the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP),” KMP Chairman Danilo H. Ramos said in a statement on March 29.

In March, the Senate approved a bill seeking to condone all unpaid loans amortization and penalties on farmers who were awarded land under CARP.

CARP is based on the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988, which was enacted to “promote social justice and industrialization.”

The Senate bill will cover the condonation of about P58 billion worth of principal debt of 610,054 agrarian reform beneficiaries who were awarded 1.18 million hectares of land.

Under the bill, all cases related to the nonpayment of loans of agrarian reform beneficiaries will be dismissed. The beneficiaries would also be exempted from paying estate taxes.

The bill is one of the priority legislative measures of the Marcos administration.

“We will try our best to finish resolving these cases under the term of President [Marcos],” Mr. Estrella said. —