Iloilo farmers seek Mariano’s help

MARIANO: My office has “inherited” 10,000 petitions for cancellation of certificates of land ownership awards. INQUIRER PHOTO

ILOILO CITY—Land reform beneficiaries in Iloilo province have sought the help of Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano to address decades of failure to install them on lands awarded  by the government.

Around 620 farmer-beneficiaries from 13 towns in northern Iloilo met with Mariano in dialogue here last week to air their problems.

“It was the first time that they spoke face to face with a secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). All of them wanted to speak, but we had to set limits for lack of time,” said Msgr. Meliton Oso, director of the Jaro Archdiocese Social Action Center, which organized the dialogue.

Among the problems raised was the inability of the DAR regional and provincial offices to install beneficiaries due mainly to opposition from landowners or those questioning their certificates of land ownership awards (Cloas).

Oso said one of the complaints was from a Cloa awardee who has occupied the land awarded to him 26 years ago.

Others told Mariano that they have been waiting for 17 years to be installed on their land.

“Most of the beneficiaries have brought their problems to the DAR in previous administrations. But they have been [tossed] around offices like a volleyball,” Oso told the Inquirer.

Mariano, a former representative of the Anakpawis party-list group and former national chair of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, directed regional and provincial DAR personnel to address the problems within specific timelines.

Oso said the beneficiaries asked Mariano to create a special task force to install farmers in Iloilo, to fill up DAR positions in Western Visayas, and to provide a fund for personnel facing cases filed by landowners.

He said some DAR personnel were hesitant to implement the installation of beneficiaries because they had been sued by landowners. They had to shoulder the legal expenses using their own money, he said.

Oso said about 24,000 beneficiaries remained to be installed in Iloilo alone.

Mariano promised to respond to the farmers within 15 days. He said his office had “inherited” about 10,000 petitions for cancellation of Cloas.