DAR to abide by SC's decision on Hacienda Luisita

By Jose Rafael Cesar Atencio

Monday 7th of May 2012

QUEZON CITY, May 7 (PIA) -- The Supreme Court (SC) had decided and the agency to implement the decision, the Agrarian Reform department, is just awaiting for the copy of the decision for the distribution of lands in the Hacienda Luisita to legitimate farmer-beneficiaries.

Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio delos Reyes has said they are waiting for the Supreme Court to give them copies of the decision for the distribution of Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac to farmers.

This is in response to the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in which the Aquino Administration stands firm in carrying out.

Delos Reyes said this during a press briefing at the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Central Office in Diliman, Quezon City.

He said they are expecting the documents to come in within six to seven days and when they get it, DAR’s operational plan to fast track the implementation of the SC decision in six to 12 months.

“The clock is ticking above my head,” delos Reyes told private and government media in the two-hour press briefing.

More than 200 employees from the regional and provincial offices of DAR together with partner agencies such as Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Land Registration Authority (LRA), and Department of Agriculture (DA) will be involved in the distribution scheme.

Details of the operational plan or a timeline were presented by delos Reyes in the mid-morning briefing, four days after SC posted in its website the final ruling of the Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) case and 13 days after was announced by SC spokesman Atty. Midas Marquez.

Delos Reyes also appealed for the full cooperation and support of all the stakeholders and groups in HLI pending the validation and finalization of the list of beneficiaries who are entitled to be given parcels of land based on Tuesday’s Supreme Court’s decision.

De los Reyes explained that the Supreme Court's decision on Hacienda Luisita would serve as the guide for field personnel in the process of land distribution.

He said the process of distribution may take six months to one year as it would entail time-consuming and labor-intensive activities such as land survey, social preparation, and the screening and validation of actual farmer-beneficiaries.

Moreover, the full cooperation of all stakeholders would hasten the land distribution process.

“We are not talking here of 100 or 200 hectares of land, but of more than 4,300 hectares of land involving more than 6,000 potential farmer beneficiaries,” de los Reyes pointed out.

The agrarian reform chief vowed to expedite the process of land distribution by embarking on three major activities—survey, social preparation, and beneficiary screening and validation— all at the same time.

Even before the Supreme Court issued its latest ruling on the issue, DAR conducted last January a massive information drive to inform Hacienda Luisita farm workers regarding the High Court’s November 2011 decision which ordered the distribution of about 4,300 hectares of Hacienda Luisita land to more than 6,200 farm worker beneficiaries.

DAR is also refining the system to speed up the screening and validation of the beneficiaries or their successors-in-interest.

Since the Hacienda Luisita is composed of 16 titles divided into 176 lots, dividing these into parcels for distribution to the farm worker-beneficiaries can be a tedious process. Thus, DAR will be working closely with the LRA and the DENR to facilitate the process of consolidating the titles, segregating roads, irrigation canals, residential areas, and the like, and conducting the subdivision survey.

"My hands are tied. I don't have a copy. Until I get a copy with an official seal," Delos Reyes said they could not start the process of land distribution because he has yet to get an official copy of the Supreme Court decision, which was issued last April 12.

The high court affirmed its earlier decision, ordering distribution of Hacienda Luisita to more than 6,000 farmer-workers.

He added that the DAR has to wait until the SC decision on HLI case is "formally served" to the agency.

"But you don't have to wait that long. I expect this to happen in six to seven days," Delos Reyes said.

He also assured that the government has enough funds to acquire the land for the farmer beneficiaries who would in turn pay the cost through the Land Bank of the Philippines.

The valuation of the land will be based on the year of the taking which was way back Nov. 21, 1989, Delos Reyes said, quoting the SC decision he got from the High Court's website. (DAR/RJB/JRCA-PIA NCR)