Farmers appeal to Marcos: Pursue agrarian reform

Farmers have urged the Marcos administration to distribute government-owned agricultural land in line with the agrarian reform mandate of the Philippine Constitution as they flagged plans to lease certain public areas to the private sector.

Leonardo Montemayor, chair of agricultural group Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) and a former agriculture secretary, made the appeal to President Marcos as he lamented that “some government agencies seem to be flouting the clear provisions” of Executive Order (EO) No. 75 signed by then President Duterte in 2019.

Under EO No. 75, all government-owned land devoted to or suitable for agriculture should be equally distributed to qualified beneficiaries, subject to applicable laws and regulations.

READ: DAR to block conversion of agricultural lands

All government departments, bureaus and offices are mandated to identify and submit the tracts of agricultural land that are no longer used by the Department of Agrarian Reform, along with the location, actual use and legal basis of ownership.

Denuded forests

Montemayor cited the plan of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to bid out one million hectares (ha) of denuded forests to the private sector.

The DENR aims to bring in new investments and create carbon credits that can be purchased by individuals or companies to offset unavoidable carbon dioxide emissions.

Montemayor also said vast government reservations were being converted by agencies such as the Philippine Army and the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) into large-scale plantations and other projects, in collaboration with the business sector.

READ: Kaingin farmers turn new leaf as forest conservators

“Take the case of the 46,000-hectare Kibaritan Military Reservation covering several municipalities in Bukidnon and Lanao del Sur. The Mindanao Army Training Group (MATG) at Camp Kibaritan [in] Kalilangan, Bukidnon is forcibly removing Higaonon indigenous and Christian farmers from their 195-hectare farm area that [is] devoted to food crops. Many of them had been there before the reservation was proclaimed in 1963,” he said.

In March last year, the MATG hinted on Facebook about plans to develop a hybrid banana plantation to generate additional jobs for the adjacent community and boost the economic status of Kalilangan town in Bukidnon.

Montemayor also cited the plan of the BuCor and the Philippine Export Zone Authority to carve out at least 26,000 ha out of the 38,000-ha Iwahig Penal Colony in Palawan for a mega-economic and manufacturing enclave. INQ