Is the Department of Land Reform (DLR) cheating on its accomplishment on land acquisition and distribution under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP)? This seems to be the case, if not the trend, for at least the last ten years that the department implemented the program.
This was the finding of national peasant federation Task Force Mapalad (TFM) based on the data gathered from the DLR showing that despite the department's distribution of certificates of land ownership awards
(CLOAs) to hundreds of farmer-beneficiaries (FBs), majority of these FBs have not been installed in the lands that have long been awarded to them.
"New landowners, only on paper. CLOA-holders but still landless tillers. This is the kind of agrarian reform beneficiaries that the DLR has created in its long years of deceitful implementation of the land acquisition and distribution phase of the CARP. This is clearly a paper mill CARP as the DLR's basis of CARP accomplishment is the volume of the lands with CLOAs that have been distributed to FBs and not the FBs' actual possession of the landholdings with CLOAs, " said TFM President Jose Rodito Angeles
Data obtained by TFM from the so-called Table 4 statistics of the DLR's Field Operations Office showed that as of July 2004, the department has already distributed to FBs a total of 3.5 million hectares of agricultural lands.
High incidence of padding
"However, some DLR officials and supervisors admitted that the department's data on land acquisition and distribution (LAD) accomplishment, is seriously flawed and inaccurate. They themselves admitted that there is a high incidence of padding in LAD accomplishment,"
TFM spokesperson Edna Sobrecaray said adding that Table 4 only monitors the generation and distribution of CLOAs but not the installation of FBs.
The group said Table 4 which is a report system utilized for the last 10 years to gauge DLR's Land Tenure Improvement (LTI) accomplishment, is not an effective tool in determining whether FBs are physically installed on the landholdings that already have CLOAs. "Thus, it is not safe to assume that the DLR's reported CARP accomplishment in terms of LAD would correspond to the landholdings where FBs have already been installed," Sobrecaray stressed.
"Doctored" accomplishments?
In 2002, the then Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) used the LTI Mon or the Land Tenure Monitoring System to check the validity of the accomplishments recorded on Table 4. Through the LTI Mon, it was found out that while Table 4 recorded 111,722 has. of nationwide LAD accomplishment, actual nationwide accomplishment (including FB's installation or physical possession of CARP-awarded lands) only stood at 77,685 hectares.
"This means that at least 30 percent of the agency's reported accomplishments could be fake, if not "doctored" accomplishments," said Angeles.
Angeles said that while the DLR has already checked such discrepancy in accomplishments, nothing is being done to completely correct these inaccuracies. "Worse, DLR Sec. Rene Villa keeps on ceremoniously awarding land titles to FBs without ensuring that the farmers will really be installed on the lands awarded to them, and this fake CARP is widespread in Negros Occidental."
Only 4 out of 10 installed
In Negros Occidental, data gathered by the TFM from the DLR Provincial Office (DARPO), showed wide discrepancies between the assumed LAD accomplishment and actual installation of FBs. From 2001 to 2003, average installation of FBs only took place in 4 out of the 10 recorded LAD accomplishment of the province.
TFM noted that in 2003, accomplishment was at 8,779 hectares but installation only covered 48 percent or
4,246 hectares.
Angeles said installation data from the DARPO could be unreliable since the pattern of installations in Negros is usually piece-meal if not, ceremonial. "DAR installation of FBs in Negros Occidental often only covers small portions of a landholding," he said.
For instance, in Hacienda Espinos in barangay Camandag, La Castellana, DLR only installed FBs in 1.3 hectares of the total 64 hectares that already have CLOAs. In Hacienda Carmenchika in barangay Don Salvador Benedicto, Pontevedra, total area with CLOAs was 859 hectares but the DLR was only able to install FBs in the 47-hectare portion of the property. In Hacienda Agueda in barangay Odiong, Moises Padilla, DAR installation only covered 1.6 hectares of the 66 hectares of CARP awarded lands.
In Hacienda Velez Malaga, formerly owned by Roberto Cuenca, CLOAs covering 445 hectares were issued two years ago but government-led installation did not follow. Also, the two-year-old CLOAs of the 132-hectare Hacienda Conchita Villanueva formerly owned by Mario Villanueva have not yet led to the FBs'
actual possession of the land.
In Hacienda Fany, CLOAs were issued 13 years ago, but installation remains a dream. The worst and probably the oldest case (at least in the areas organized under the TFM) could be that of Hacienda Cambuktot's. A total of 189 hectares of this landholding formerly owned by Farley Gustilo were issued CLOAs 15 years ago, but installation may have already become a hallucination for hopelessly waiting FBs.
Died waiting
These landholdings which are part of the total 14 haciendas organized under the TFM (total of 1,334
hectares) already have CLOAs but still await DLR's installation of 747 FBs.
"Though data is incomplete to determine the irregularities in the DLR's LAD accomplishment in terms of CLOA distribution and FB installation, the high incidence of padding and discrepancies in government LAD records imply that the DLR's LTI accomplishment in Negros Occidental is way below the statistics provided in Table 4." It is assumed in Table 4 data that as of July 2004, the total Negros lands distributed to FBs stood at 142,655 hectares or
58 percent of the total perennial LAD balance.
Angeles said the trend in FB installation in Negros takes much longer time especially on contentious landholdings. He added there were even instances when CLOAs became brittle and even FBs grew old, some in fact had died waiting, but installation never took place.
Negros farmers perceived that the dilly-dally attitude on installation of the present DLR administration under Secretary Villa is complementing the efforts of a few but influential Negros landowners in blocking CARP implementation.
