Hacienda Luisita to be distributed before 2013 polls — DAR chief
The 4,335-hectare Hacienda Luisita farmland in Tarlac province will be distributed to its farmer-beneficiaries before next year’s midterm elections, Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio delos Reyes said Monday.
"We are confident that we are going to meet our self-imposed deadline, which is April 24, 2013," Delos Reyes told senators at the hearing on the Department of Agrarian Reform’s proposed budget for 2013.
"Bago po sana matapos ang eleksyon ay matapos na natin ang Hacienda Luisita," he added.
The department is expecting a preliminary masterlist of beneficiaries by the end of October, Delos Reyes said.
"Nagbibigay po kami ng dalawa hanggang tatlong buwan para doon sa mga maaring magtanong kung bakit hindi sila kasali at kung bakit dapat sila ay kasali," he added.
He also said that they have already tasked a private land surveyor to start conducting a segregation survey on Hacienda Luisita, which is owned by relatives of President Benigno Aquino III.
After the survey, the DAR can start with land valuation and then determine who should be given the lands, Delos Reyes said.
In an earlier press release, DAR said it began the process of beneficiaries’ identification, screening and validation with a massive information campaign at the 10 barangays of Hacienda Luisita last May 18— a week after the department received a copy of the final and executory decision of the Supreme Court ordering the distribution of the country’s biggest sugar plantation to farmworkers who were tilling the land.
A total of 8,550 potential beneficiaries took part in a series of interviews conducted by DAR personnel at basketball courts and elementary schools in the 10 barangays of Hacienda Luisita since last May, the statement said. — Amita O. Legaspi/KBK, GMA News
"We are confident that we are going to meet our self-imposed deadline, which is April 24, 2013," Delos Reyes told senators at the hearing on the Department of Agrarian Reform’s proposed budget for 2013.
"Bago po sana matapos ang eleksyon ay matapos na natin ang Hacienda Luisita," he added.
The department is expecting a preliminary masterlist of beneficiaries by the end of October, Delos Reyes said.
"Nagbibigay po kami ng dalawa hanggang tatlong buwan para doon sa mga maaring magtanong kung bakit hindi sila kasali at kung bakit dapat sila ay kasali," he added.
He also said that they have already tasked a private land surveyor to start conducting a segregation survey on Hacienda Luisita, which is owned by relatives of President Benigno Aquino III.
After the survey, the DAR can start with land valuation and then determine who should be given the lands, Delos Reyes said.
In an earlier press release, DAR said it began the process of beneficiaries’ identification, screening and validation with a massive information campaign at the 10 barangays of Hacienda Luisita last May 18— a week after the department received a copy of the final and executory decision of the Supreme Court ordering the distribution of the country’s biggest sugar plantation to farmworkers who were tilling the land.
A total of 8,550 potential beneficiaries took part in a series of interviews conducted by DAR personnel at basketball courts and elementary schools in the 10 barangays of Hacienda Luisita since last May, the statement said. — Amita O. Legaspi/KBK, GMA News
