LAND OWNERSHIP. Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III (right) and Western Visayas Regional Director Sheila Enciso in a press conference in Bago City, Negros Occidental on Monday (April 8, 2024). Estrella joined President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. during the distribution of certificates of land ownership award and support services to agrarian reform beneficiaries in Negros Occidental on the same day. (PNA photo by Nanette L. Guadalquiver)
BAGO CITY – Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III on Monday assured members of the Asosasyon sang Boracay Ati Tribal Organization (ABATO) that the government will provide them lands after the certificate of land ownership award (CLOAs) of the area they are occupying was canceled for not being suitable for agricultural use.
“Agad-agad po naghanap na kami ng lupa na ipapamigay sa kanila na ang aming gagamitin ay Executive Order 75 at nakahanap na po kami (We have been looking for land to give to them using Executive Order 75 and we have found something to give to them),” Estrella said in a press conference here.
Estrella joined President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. during the distribution of CLOAs and support services to agrarian reform beneficiaries in Negros Occidental at the Manuel Y. Torres Memorial Coliseum and Cultural Center here on Monday.
The DAR chief said each of the 44 members will receive not less than one hectare, adding that if they can find more, the beneficiaries will receive up to three hectares.
On the other hand, with only 1,282 square meters of land covered by the canceled CLOAs, each member will own only 30 square meters.
“As what the President said, they will be also be provided support services. The current administration treats people with compassion and the DAR also has a feeling for the poor,” he added.
Estrella said the issuance of CLOAs for the more than 1,200 square meters of land occupied by Ati indigenous people tribe in 2018 had no legal basis.
The CLOAs were canceled after the DAR-Western Visayas issued a resolution last year that the land was not suitable for agricultural use, based on the soil analysis of the Bureau of Soils and Water Management of the Department of Agriculture.
Last March 24, security guards put up a fence in a portion of the parcels of land and the Ati tribe are facing eviction.
Estrella clarified, however, that the security guards were not deployed by the DAR.
“It does not make sense if it’s not for agriculture. Everything, all our action will be based on existing laws,” he added. (PNA)
