‘Accelerate completion of agrarian reform coverage’
BACOLOD City – A multi-sectoral group here is asking the national government to accelerate the completion of the agrarian reform coverage. In a press conference at the Negros Press Club Thursday, the Damayan ng mga Manggagawa, Magsasaka at Mangingisda sa Bansa (DAMMBA) said that the backlog of the Department of Agrarian Reform is

By Dolly Yasa
By Dolly Yasa
BACOLOD City – A multi-sectoral group here is asking the national government to accelerate the completion of the agrarian reform coverage.
In a press conference at the Negros Press Club Thursday, the Damayan ng mga Manggagawa, Magsasaka at Mangingisda sa Bansa (DAMMBA) said that the backlog of the Department of Agrarian Reform is still over 464,000 hectares.
“Most of its backlog is in Negros Occidental,” DAMMBA national chairman and president Roy Mahinay said.
He further said that “prolonging the Land Acquisition and Distribution (LAD) is prolonging the agony of the farmers and farm workers and potential agrarian reform beneficiaries.”
Mahinay also lamented that “35 years and six presidents from Corazon Aquino in 1987-1988 to Bongbong Marcos, but the agrarian reform professed by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law passed on June 15, 1988 has not yet been completed.”
Generally, DAMMBA demands to accelerate the completion of the agrarian reform coverage, to fast track the LAD process, to hasten the resolution of the long pending cases and issues and concerns, and to complete the coverage of all Private Agricultural Lands and Government Own Lands.
Mahinay added that in particular, they are very much concerned about Negros Occidental because the province has the largest coverage backlog.
Mahinay said that it is in Negros Occidental where there is the strongest landowner resistance against land reform and also has the most ejection/demotions of potential agrarian reforms beneficiaries.
He added that the province has also the most farm workers terminated from work due to petitions for coverage and also has many farmers and farm workers killed due to their struggle for land.
The province of Negros Occidental also has the slowest LAD process and the most violations of the agrarian reform law, Mahinay further lamented.
Article Information
Comments (0)
LEAVE A REPLY
No comments yet
Be the first to share your thoughts!
Related Articles
DENR pushes 2027 deadline for new Iloilo bulk water supply
A top official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources said Iloilo must have a new bulk water supply operational by 2027, warning that the city’s rapid urban growth will further increase water demand in the coming years. Carlos Primo David, DENR undersecretary for integrated environmental science and head of

Treñas-Chu slams MPIW over permit delay claims
Iloilo City Mayor Raisa Treñas-Chu criticized Metro Pacific Iloilo Water on Thursday for what she described as the company’s failure to directly raise concerns about alleged delays in the processing of permits for its desalination plant project in Barangay Ingore, La Paz. “I would have appreciated it if MPIW had informed
