SC order prompts fund release via DAP, says DAR exec

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines—A final ruling by the Supreme Court ordering Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) in 2011 to pay P1.38 billion as just compensation and interest for fruit farms in Tagum City prompted a request for the release of P7.9 billion that Congress had approved, a Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) official said on Tuesday.

Anthony Parungao, agrarian reform undersecretary for legal affairs, said P5.4 billion of the P7.9-billion fund was given through the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

Parungao pointed this out in reaction to an allegation by Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) that the release of landowners’ compensation, through the DAP, was a scheme to plunder the DAP funds.

“Definitely not. It was Landbank’s request as a result of the very real prospect of the severe depletion of the Agrarian Reform Fund for which we sought merely the release of funds already appropriated by Congress in 2010 and 2011, and not an augmentation or additional amount of any sort,” he said.

The Supreme Court found sections of the DAP unconstitutional because President Aquino usurped the power of Congress to allocate budget.

The final ruling of the Supreme Court in the case of Apo Fruits Corp. and Hijo Plantation Inc. on April 5, 2011, showed that it upheld the decision of a Regional Trial Court revaluing the properties from P251.4 million to P411.6 million and imposing a 12-percent interest for delayed payments.

Parungao said Landbank asked the DAR in a Sept. 2, 2011, letter to help in the release of the landowners’ compensation appropriations for 2010 and 2011.

The DAR endorsed this to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Sept. 7, 2011, and the latter released P5.4 billion through a notice of cash allocation via the DAP on Oct. 4.

Parungao also disputed a claim by KMP, one of the groups that filed an impeachment case against Aquino, that the P5.4 billion was released to pay for the 4,500 hectares that the government took from Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI), a subsidiary of Tarlac Development Corp., the original owner of the sugar estate controlled by the President’s family in Tarlac province.

The agrarian reform program and just compensation for lands are mandated by the 1987 Constitution. Just compensation is paid by the government and not by farmer-beneficiaries, according to Republic Act No. 6657 (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms).

In a statement on Monday, Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes said: “Some groups are trying to make it appear that this is the first time that the government is paying landowners. It is not. The DAR has been paying landowners for lands it acquired for distribution under its agrarian reform program for more than 30 years.”

KMP chair Rafael Mariano asked why the DBM released the landowners’ compensation through the DAP when the DAR had claimed it was appropriated by Congress.

Mariano also criticized the DAR for paying P1.4 billion to Apo and Hijo, and P471 million to HLI when the lands were not held and tilled by the beneficiaries.–Tonette Orejas