BUKIDNON (Mindanao Examiner / May 30, 2014) – Filipino farmers belonging to national federation Task Force Mapalad called on President Benigno Aquino to either closely watch or take over the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms vis-à-vis the Department of Agrarian’s claim that the issuance of notices of coverage of landholdings under the CARPER is proceeding apace.
“Contrary to the DAR’s claim that it is proceeding quickly with NOC issuance, the agency’s own data show otherwise as there are still almost 400,000 hectares of farmlands that have not yet been issued NOCs,” TFM president Alberto Jayme said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
Based on data obtained by the TFM from the DAR as of December 2013, there are still more than 396,000 hectares covering some 47,800 landholdings that have not yet been issued NOCs, according to Jayme.
He said of the total landholdings without NOC, 43% or about 170,400 hectares are still undergoing research; 22% or more than 87,000 hectares remain under pre-ocular inspection; 11% or close to 49,000 hectares await NOC service, and the rest, about 4% or 16,000 hectares, are under the DAR’s project landholding on land classification map.
Jayme explained that the issuance of NOC “is the first major critical step” in the process of acquiring and distributing lands to farmer-beneficiaries.
“The issuance of NOC will ensure that the landholding will be subject to Section 30 or Republic Act 9700 or the CARPER Law. The said section of the law provides that the DAR can continue the acquisition and distribution of landholdings even beyond 2014, the ending year for the extended CARP funding period,” he said.
Jayme said that if a NOC is not issued, a landholding can never be processed for acquisition and distribution to its farmer-beneficiaries and thus “will remain under the control of its present landowner, thereby defeating the CARPER’s land-to-the-tiller objective.”
Aiding landlords to evade CARPER?
“We challenge the DAR to either refute the figures on its huge NOC issuance backlog or be completely transparent in its reporting to the public of the details of its land acquisition and distribution process especially on NOC issuance,” he said.
“This is the only way for the agency to dispel claims from the peasant sector that the DAR is keeping farmers in the dark about the true state of CARPER implementation. The transparent, complete, and objective reporting both of its accomplishments and perennial under-performance will banish beliefs that it is aiding recalcitrant and influential landlords in evading CARPER,” he added.
The TFM cited the case of landless tillers in Mindanao. Based on initial data gathered by the Alliance of Land Rights Movement in Mindanao (ALARM-Mindanao), there are about 10,000 hectares of agricultural lands that have not yet been issued NOCs.
The landholdings without NOCs include the 590-hectare Ayala farmland in Davao del Sur; 845 hectares owned by SODACO (Consunji) in Davao provinces; 764 hectares owned by NAIDCOR-Cojuangco in Agusan del Sur; 111 hectares owned by Lapanday Group of Companies in Davao City,; and the 1,178-hectare of untitled lands claimed by the Fortich family in Bukidnon.
In Negros Occidental, preliminary data gathered by the TFM show that there are over 128,000 hectares of agricultural landholdings covering 188 haciendas in 12 municipalities that remain without NOC.
In February this year, DAR Undersecretary for Field Operations, Jose Grageda, was quoted in news reports as saying that the issuance of NOC for landholdings under compulsory acquisition was proceeding apace.
Moreover, reports quoted the DAR as saying that it had begun fast-tracking preliminary work that resulted in the fast-tracking of NOC issuance starting 2012.
“But its own data are a clear proof its sluggish performance and the high probability of breaking the commitment of President Aquino that the CARPER’s land acquisition and distribution (LAD) component will be completed before his term ends in June 2016,” said Jayme.
As of December 2013, the DAR is still left with a LAD backlog of 771,995 hectares. The January 2014 LAD accomplishment only stood at 26,400 hectares.
Minus the March 2014 accomplishment of 26,400 hectares, this means that in the last 27 months of Aquino’s term from April 2014 to June 2016, the DAR has to acquire and distribute close to 508,000 hectares or about 253,000 hectares per year in the last two years of the Aquino administration, according to Jayme.
But based on the agency’s data, the DAR’s average yearly LAD accomplishment from 2010 to 2013 never reached 150,000 hectares and only stood at nearly 114,000 hectares.
“With this dismal performance in LAD and the huge backlog in NOC issuance under the watch of DAR Secretary Virgilio delos Reyes, how can we expect the DAR to fulfill Aquino’s promise to thousands of landless tillers? Maybe, this is the time for Aquino himself to take over CARPER implementation or lose face and credibility because of the lackadaisical and inept performance of his alter ego at the DAR,” Jayme said.
20