Only President Duterte has the political will to fully implement agrarian reform program in the country, Malacañang said yesterday, in a bid to dispel criticisms that he was not interested on the matter.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said the administration has so far distributed 120,889 hectares of land as well as provided farmers with machinery, seeds, and farm animals to maximize the use of agrarian lands.
Panelo dismissed the “false” allegations of former Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano that Duterte was not interested in real agrarian reform.
“We find disappointing the recent statement of former Secretary of Agrarian Reform Rafael ‘Ka Paeng’ that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is not interested in real land reform. This is a 180-degree turnaround of his position when he was all praises for this administration when he was a guest by the Office of the Presidential Spokesperson in one of its briefings last September 2016 as a former member of the Cabinet,” Panelo said.
“The Palace notes that the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program was enacted more than 30 years ago but it is only during the Duterte administration where Filipinos have witnessed a political will from the government to fully implement it. Mr. Mariano is fully aware of this,” he added.
Of the 613,327 hectares of land pending for distribution in July 2016, Panelo said around 120,889 hectares of land were distributed to 77,275 agrarian reform beneficiaries nationwide until June 2019.
The President also issued Executive Order No. 75 mandating all government agencies to identify government-owned lands suitable for agriculture for distribution. “The issuance practically covered unused government-owned lands, thereby making available at least 300,000 hectares more for the agrarian reform program,” Panelo said.
Under EO 75, the DAR is directed to prepare an inventory of such lands, validate the identified lands, and initiate the transfer and distribution to qualified beneficiaries for cultivation or agricultural use. (Genalyn Kabiling)