Duterte on land reform: You don’t need Reds

KIDAPAWAN CITY—President RodrigoDuterte on Saturday distributed 6,400 certificates of land ownership award (Cloa) to agrarian reform beneficiaries in North Cotabato province, telling them they did not need communist rebels to possess land.

In a speech during the distribution ceremony at the Amas provincial gym here, Mr. Duterte said communist rebels were “poisoning” the minds of poor farmers to rise up against the government.

But he acknowledged that agrarian reform, or the lack of it, was one of the key reasons for the rebellion and cases of violent conflict.

“Whenever there’s land conflict, armed conflict follows,” he said.

“When everybody has land to till and when everybody is working and earning, I think there will be peace,” he added.

Livelihood

In a briefer distributed to reporters, agrarian reform officials said the distribution of Cloas sought to improve the livelihood of farmers.

Agrarian Reform Secretary John Rualo Castriciones said a total of 6,400 Cloas covering 11,243 hectares were ceremonially turned over to beneficiaries in North Cotabato’s 17 towns and one city, the largest single distribution in the country’s agrarian reform history.

“We will continue the land reform program as fast as we can,” Castriciones said.

Mr. Duterte also awarded land titles to 800 beneficiaries for the 2,412-hectare settlement area in the upland town of Alamada.

Each Cloa meant a parcel of land measuring up to 3 ha.

Don’t ask rebels

The President said farmers did not need the help of communist rebels to achieve agrarian reform.

He also lashed again at the New People’s Army, saying “no one is going to win this war.”

He admitted, though, that “if land reform is not implemented, this war is not going to end, if people continue to be deprived of land.”

But although the President expressed commitment to subject government lands to agrarian reform, he remained mum on reforming thousands of hectares of private landholdings throughout the country.

In his speech, Mr. Duterte said he would give all government lands to “lumad” (indigenous peoples). “I want the lumad to taste millions,” he said.

“Don’t say that we will just sit on our asses and do nothing,” he said.

“We have already been working on an effective land reform program,” the President added.

No praises

Mr. Duterte said he had been quietly working on a land reform program. “My flaw is that I don’t want to publicize it. I do not want praises, I do not want adulation,” he said.

According to the President, he instructed Castriciones to put all government lands under agrarian reform.

“I told him to give it away. Don’t waste a minute longer because we cannot end this friction due to land disputes,” he said.

The President cited the recently reopened Boracay, parts of which were distributed to locals and indigenous peoples under the land reform program. —REPORTS FROM EDWIN FERNANDEZ, ORLANDO DINOY AND JULIE M. AURELIO