At least 200,000 families who were beneficiaries of the government's agrarian reform program have been displaced in Mindanao by the ongoing skirmishes between government troops and the extremists group Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
This was disclosed yesterday by Agrarian Reform Secretary Horacio "Boy" Morales Jr., even as he brushed aside the need to totally suspend the implementation of the agrarian reform program in the entire Mindanao region.
"There will be no suspension of the agrarian reform program in Mindanao. The magnitude of the ongoing armed problem in Mindanao is not that big," Morales said.
Morales said that the areas seriously affected by the continuous firefighting between government troops and MILF and Abu Sayyaf where the so-called Agrarian Reform Communities (ARCs) are located include Lanao del Norte, Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat in Central Mindanao.
"Agrarian reform operations are suspended in these areas to focus on evacuation and relief operations of farmer beneficiaries of the comprehensive agrarian reform program," Morales said.
Morales said that the overall situation in Western Mindanao is normal except in three towns in Basilan and two agrarian reform communities in Zamboanga del Sur.
He said that CARP operations in all towns in Basilan are ongoing except in the towns of Maluso, Lantawan and Sumisip where operations are suspended due to the hostilities.
"But caution is being exercised in other towns due to possible escalation of hostilities," Morales said.
The agrarian reform activities in the whole of Region 10, according to Morales, proceed normally.
Considered vulnerable are the western towns of Bukidnon and Misamis Oriental, which share boarders with Cotabato and Lanao provinces where hostilities with MILF are ongoing.
Faizar Mambuay, DAR's director for Mindanao, said that the MILF is supporting the government's agrarian reform program.
At least P201.8-million worth of foreign-assisted infrastructure projects are being conducted by the government in Zamboanga del Sur and del Norte, Sarangani and Davao Oriental.
The DAR has recently signed a memorandum of agreement with Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Nur Misuari so that the DAR can organize 20 agrarian reform communities in the area.
"The agrarian reform program in ARMM got P600 million support from the government. But with the ongoing conflict, some programs will be delayed. We are trying to see what we can do to help the beneficiaries, to evacuate them to other places," Morales said.
Morales said that the existing Task Force of the DAR has been converted into a crisis center to accomodate displaced farmer beneficiaries in Mindanao.