Agrarian reform farmers now being installed in Lapanday land

President Rodrigo Duterte meets with farmers camped out at Mendiola on May 9, 2017 (Photo from the Presidential Communications Operations Office)

TAGUM CITY, Davao del Norte — Agrarian Reform Undersecretary  David Erro said on Thursday the re-installation of the 159 agrarian reform beneficiaries in the disputed banana farm here has started.

Representatives of the regional sheriff have started clearing operations at the 145-hectare farm in Barangay San Isidro, ahead of breaking open the farm gates.

Some 5,000 farmers from other areas trooped to the camp-out to show support for the agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs)

Erro expressed confidence the ARBs would be successfully installed this time, the third such attempt this year, as the order to help them enter the farm came straight from President Duterte.

The ARBs have been engaged in a land dispute with the Lapanday Foods Corporation, a banana firm owned by the family of former Agriculture Secretary Luiz Lorenzo.  SFM/rga