After over 20 years of land dispute, the Department of Agrarian Reform has ended the struggles of farmer-beneficiaries at the Nemesio Tan plantation in Capiz province.
In June 2020, the Office of the President junked the petition of Tan’s heirs to retain ownership of the plantation, cancel the certificates of landownership issued to farmer-beneficiaries and stop the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program implementation in the landholdings.
Secretary John Castriciones said President Rodrigo Duterte’s order proves that his administration is truly looking after the welfare and rights of the farmers.
“Prior to this order, we conscientiously followed up the resolution of this case in the proper authority and upon receiving the order, we immediately created a team that would expedite the process of giving the farmers’ long awaited land titles. We crafted plans and strategies to strictly observe the due process to cover the said landholdings,” he said. Rio N. Araja
Under the leadership of Castriciones and the guidance of Western Visayas regional director Sheila Enciso, Task Force Nemesio Tan was created.
The farmers’ struggle began in 1997 when the Tan landholdings, located in the towns of Pilar and President Roxas were covered under the CARP.
Tan’s heirs appealed to the court and continued to take control of the property.
The farmers’ continuous fight for their rights led to violence in February 2017, which took the life of one farmer while four others were wounded.
“The Tan landholdings protested that there were alleged irregularities in identifying the qualified farmer-beneficiaries so our task force carefully selected and identified the qualified agrarian reform beneficiaries. Our personnel pooled all their resources and efforts to ensure that those who will receive the lands are the rightful farmers,” the DAR chief said.
He said they carefully studied directives to ensure that implementing the CARP in the area was free from any flaws.
“Our President tasked us to give all the remaining balance to our farmers before his term ends. And so we must exercise our mandate at all costs,” he said.