Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones on Tuesday disclosed the order of President Rodrigo Duterte to distribute agricultural land to rebel returnees to ensure progress and lasting peace in the countryside.
“The President told me to give the rebel-returnees government-owned lands and private agricultural lands. The DAR will recommend an executive order so that the agency can immediately comply with the President’s directive,” he said.
The President believes that the effective implementation of agrarian reform is the solution to the armed conflict in the rural areas, he added.
Despite the COVID-19) pandemic, Castriciones said, the President has acknowledged DAR’s vital role in the distribution of land to the farmers.
He says Duterte has vowed to join the Department of Agrarian Reform in visiting farmer-beneficiaries in far-flung areas to distribute land.]
“The President told me that he would join DAR in the distribution of certificates of landownership award starting this March, identifying Cagayan de Oro, Eastern Samar, Quezon, Masbate, Negros, Capiz, Negros Oriental, Abra, Isabela and Bicol as some of the provinces he wanted to visit immediately,” Castriciones said.
He says he is seeking the suggestions of other agency officials as to how the agency could effectively accomplish the task following the President’s directive.