THE Department of Agrarian Reform is now in the process of validating 6,212 farmer-beneficiaries of the Hacienda Luisita Inc. in Tarlac to determine their current status under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
Secretary Rafael Mariano tasked Undersecretary Marcos Risonar, along with the other agency officials and employees in Tarlac, to conduct a three-week validation.
The validation, which was pilot-tested in Barangay Balete, is the department’s nationwide information-gathering to know the status of agrarian reform beneficiaries.
Barangay Balete, which has 57.42 hectares with 87 farmer-beneficiaries, is one in 10 barangays of the awarded 4,099.92- hectare Hacienda Luisita.
According to Risonar, the validation will determine if farmers are in their respective lot assignment and are actually tilling it themselves.
“There are reports that farmer-beneficiaries lease, rent or sell their lands. If the informations are true, we could come up with corrective measure to protect the welfare of the farmers,” he said.
“This is also to determine if there is reconcentration of awarded lands to previous landowners. We will ask the agrarian reform beneficiaries about their current situations. From there, we will compile all their answers to establish conclusion that will address their immediate concerns in their communities.”
The validation started March 7 and will end on March 24 to gather information from 6,212 farmer-beneficiaries of Hacienda Luisita.
