DAR acting chief to continue agenda of Duterte admin in agrarian reform

Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Acting Secretary Bernie Cruz. Photo from Department of Agrarian Reform Facebook

MANILA, Philippines — Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Acting Secretary Bernie Cruz on Monday said that he would continue the agenda of President Rodrigo Duterte during his tenure as the agency’s chief.

“‘Yung agenda po natin ay ‘yung agenda rin ng ating Pangulong Duterte — mabilis na ipamahagi ‘yung lupa, bigyan ng sapat na support services ‘yung mga farmers natin para maging produktibo ‘yung lupa, at the same time ‘yung continuity nung…zero backlog,” Cruz said during a press conference.

(Our agenda is the agenda of President Duterte — quick distribution of lands, providing sufficient support services for farmers to make the land productive, and at the same time, the continuity of zero backlogs.)

“Kasi ‘yun po kung makikita niyo, kung gusto nating mawala, kahit saan sa Pilipinas, ‘pag umikot kayo, maraming lupa ‘yung nakatiwangwang, tinutubuan ng talahib. Ang dahilan po nu’n ay dahil may mga kasong nakabinbin kaya hindi magalaw,” he added.

(If you look at it, if you roam around the Philippines, there are lands where grasses and weeds grow. The reason is that we cannot touch those due to pending cases.)

Cruz replaced former chief John Castriciones who resigned from the agency in a bid to win a seat in the Senate.

Cruz was DAR’s undersecretary for foreign-assisted and special projects office before he was appointed by Malacañang to the post.

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