116 farmers in Occidental Mindoro get free legal services from DAR

Occidental Mindoro map. INQUIRER FILE

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 116 farmers in Occidental Mindoro have received free legal services from lawyers of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

DAR said Tuesday that the farmers from Mamburao, Paluan, and Sablayan towns attended the three-day free legal service, including information dissemination, free legal consultation, and counseling to agrarian reform beneficiaries.

DAR Regional Director Marvin Bernal said he noticed that farmers are having difficulty going directly to the DAR offices in the province to seek legal advice so they implemented the “Lawyers to the Benepisyaryo” program.

Under the program, which was introduced in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, DAR lawyers directly visit farmers to hear their legal grievances and problems regarding their lands.

Another DAR program called the Agrarian Reform Justice on Wheels was also brought to the farmers of Occidental Mindoro.

“We will also provide these free-legal services to the rest of the Mimaropa region throughout the year,” Bernal said in a statement.

During the free consultations, DAR said some of the issues raised by farmers included problems with the size of their land and the placing of markers in their areas.

DAR lawyers also discussed retention, mediation, compulsory arbitration, and the rights and obligations of its farmer-beneficiaries.

The DAR likewise encouraged its beneficiaries to utilize alternative dispute resolution to reduce conflicts maturing into court cases as it aims to persuade contending parties to settle their disputes out of court. — Denver Godezano, trainee

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