A musti-stakes horner task force formed by President Benigno Aquino III convened on Friday, nearly two months after farmers’ groups lifted their hunger strike staged to push for the sacking of Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes.
The union of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has released its own Christmas message to Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes, asking him to “cut cleanly” and step down.
The open letter of Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes to his department defending himself against a host of issues was met with disdain and rebuttals by a peasant group that is leading calls for his resignation.
Farmers on a hunger strike at the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) building on Friday accused Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes of deceiving the public when he said his department would be able to distribute 160,000 hectares of land by the end of 2012.
Militant farmers on Friday barged into the office of Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio delos Reyes in Quezon City to demand his resignation over his department’s slow-paced implementation of land distribution.
Catholic Church leaders on Friday expressed confidence that President Benigno Aquino III would keep his word on the full implementation of agrarian reform, but vowed to remain vigilant to make sure that land distribution to farmers is completed by 2014 as promised.
The Supreme Court decision to strike down the stock distribution option (SDO) scheme at Hacienda Luisita, the largest plantation in the Philippines to implement the mechanism, has given some hope to farmers opposing the SDO on 10 other large estates around the country.
