DAR chief wants illegally acquired lands returned
THE head of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) wants the lands and land titles acquired by farmer-beneficiaries under the government’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) that were transferred to unscrupulous businessmen returned to his agency.
During the department’s performance review and planning session in Tagaytay City, Cavite province this week, Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones said these lands would be redistributed to “more responsible and deserving farmers.”
His statement came after DAR regional offices reported that the majority of members of agrarian reform beneficiaries’ organizations (ARBOs) refused to join farmers’ groups or could no longer be found in their awarded lands.
There are about 6,000 ARBOs nationwide, according to department data.
“Our beneficiaries are the CLOA (certificate of land ownership award) holders. If they are not the ones we are helping, we have no reason to exist,” Castriciones said.
He directed municipal agrarian reform provincial officers (MARPOs) to check all CLOA holders, saying that if they were not working on their lands, “file cases to get back those lands.”
“Let us show them that we mean business and we are serious in helping our farmers and farm workers. We cannot allow the situation to continue where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer,” the Agrarian Reform chief added.
When awarded lands are returned to the DAR, their buyers lose their investments, as they cannot seek remedies from the courts and are aware of the 10-year prohibition for farmers to dispose those lands.
The department is mandated by Republic Act 6657, or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, to help qualified ARBs. They range from individual agricultural workers to cooperatives.
In order to qualify, a prospective beneficiary should have the “willingness, aptitude, and ability to cultivate the make the land as productive as possible,” the DAR said.
Under the law, a CLOA beneficiary is prohibited to sell, transfer or convey the right to use the land he or she acquired.
The department is required to record ARBs’ performance, so that those found misusing or neglecting the land or support they received shall lose their status as beneficiaries.
Lands acquired by beneficiaries may only sold, transferred or conveyed to their children, the government, the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank), or other qualified beneficiaries for 10 years.
At present, DAR has distributed 4.8 million hectares to 2.9 million CLOA holders.
The agency aims to cover some 561,000 hectares of agricultural land for distribution to landless farmers at an average of 50,000 hectares a year.
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