DAR wants to hasten Luisita distribution

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) admitted yesterday that it is racing against time on the transfer of ownership of Hacienda Luisita to qualified farmer-beneficiaries.

This, as it anticipates the Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) to urgently secure a court injunction to stop the distribution.

"So we really have to do it fast because I am sure the HLI management will exhaust all legal means to prevent its property from being distributed to its farmworkers," said Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman.

Last Tuesday, DAR Undersecretary for Field Operations Narciso Nieto appealed to the farmer-beneficiaries to allow the agency to secure first a collective certificate of land ownership award (CLOA), saying this is the easiest way to transfer the ownership of the Cojuangco-owned property in Tarlac.

Pangandaman tasked Nieto to oversee the transfer of land titles in the name of qualified farmer-beneficiaries, who have been pressuring the DAR to issue individual CLOAs. — Katherine Adraneda