DAR execs in hot water for canceling land titles

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Two congressional committees have recommended to the Office of the Ombudsman the investigation and prosecution of officials responsible in the cancellation of 97 certificates of land ownership award (Cloas) for 130.7 hectares issued to tenants in this Pampanga capital in 2005.

The House committee on agrarian reform, chaired by Ifugao Rep. Teodoro Baguilat Jr., and the House committee on good government and public accountability, chaired by Pampanga Rep. Oscar Rodriguez, gave the recommendation in a joint committee report submitted to Congress on April 14.

The Inquirer sought Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes, who approved the cancellation of the Cloa on March 10, 2011, but he did not send his comments on Monday afternoon.

The inquiry was conducted through House Resolution No. 1328 filed by Butil Rep. Agapito Guanlao on the heels of violence at the disputed property in Barangay (village) Maimpis here following a court-approved demolition in July last year.

“It can be gleaned that the supporting documents utilized by [the Department of Agrarian Reform] (DAR) in exempting the subject land from [the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program] (CARP) coverage and granting the petition for cancellation of the subject Cloa which primarily the [preliminary approval and locational clearance] and [development permit] from [the Human Settlement Commission] were no longer availing [and] had lost validity in 1989,” the report said.

Eligio Mallari, a former human rights commissioner who claims ownership of the land mortgaged by the Wijangco couple to the Philippine National Bank (PNB), sought the CARP exemption due to supposed land use reclassification.

This was after Narciso Nieto, former DAR Central Luzon director, placed the lands under CARP coverage on Feb. 19, 2005.

The PNB, asserting it was the new owner because Mallari defaulted on payments, dealt with the tenants who sought CARP coverage after losing in a land redemption case against Mallari.

On Dec. 14, 2005, then Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman exempted 96 ha, an order that then Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita modified on Oct. 28, 2008, by exempting the entire 130.7 ha.

On the petition of Mallari, De los Reyes canceled the 97 Cloas on March 10, 2011.

Alex Lorayes, vice president of Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), said the farmers had already paid LBP P9.2 million of the P10.69 million in total land amortization.

“The DAR failed to safeguard the rights of farmer-beneficiaries and did not accord the indefeasibility of the Cloa due respect. The DAR gave due course and consideration to actions, petitions or cases where substantial interest over … the land in question is not sufficiently established,” the committees said.

They said Mallari and his wife were “not the lawful owners of the property and, therefore, had no legal personality when they sought the cancellation of the Cloa filed on Jan. 24, 2012.”

Only the PNB can apply for CARP exemption and file for cancellation of Cloas, they said.

The Mallaris did not attend the hearings of the committee or swore to the documents they submitted. Zam-Bat Mining, the company that bought the property from the couple, did not send a representative to the hearings. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon