MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agrarian Reform on Thursday allocated farm lots to 300 farmer-beneficiaries at the Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac on the first day of the allocation activity.
The DAR said the lot allocation in Barangay Cutcut alone, a total of 646 qualified beneficiaries were expected to attend the drawing of lots to determine first-hand the location of the individual farm lots to be awarded to them.
The rest of the names will be drawn on Friday.
"One thing is sure, all the qualified beneficiaries for the lot allocation activity in Barangay Cutcut will be given Lot Allocation Certificates during the two-day event," DAR Secretary Virgilio Delos Reyes said.
The DAR's provincial office in Tarlac estimated that it would take them until August 21 this year to complete all the lot allocation in the country’s biggest sugar estate, owned by the family of President Benigno Aquino III.
Hacienda Luisita is composed of 10 barangays in three municipalities in the province of Tarlac-- Barangays CutCut, Bantog, Balete, Asturias, Lourdes, and Mapalacsiao in Tarlac City; Parang, Pando, and Mabilog in the town of Concepcion; and Barangay Motrico in La Paz town.
The DAR has identified more than 6,000 farmworker-beneficiaries in Hacienda Luisita.
Each beneficiary is expected to own farm lots with an area of 6,600 square meters, more or less, from the total area of 4,099 hectares up for distribution.
An additional 400.87 hectares will also be acquired under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program but will not be distributed, as these will be used as common areas, such as firebreaks which will also serve as access roads to the farm lots of the beneficiaries.
The lot allocation for the qualified beneficiaries in other barangays are scheduled as follows: Lourdes, July 22 and 23; Bantog, July 25 and 26; Asturias, July 29 and 30; Motrico, Aug. 1 and 2; Pando, Aug. 5 and 6; Mabilog, Aug. 8 and 9; Parang, Aug. 12 and 13; Balete, Aug. 15 and 16; and Mapalacsiao, Aug. 19, 20 and 21.