Despite glaring violations of the laws on land distribution, the recipients of a Boracay lot have filed a petition in the Court of Appeals (CA) questioning the decision of Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella to void their certificate of land ownership (CLOA), the Department of Agrarian Reform confirmed on Wednesday.

The distribution of private land under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) ended on 30 June 2014, and from then on, the government could only hand out idle public land.

On 15 March 2023, Estrella ordered the cancellation of the CLOAs of 44 Ati tribe members, greenlighting Digna Ventura’s petition based on a complaint she filed after her 1,282-square-meter lot situated in Sitio Angol, Barangay Manoc-manoc in Boracay, was included in the land distributed to Ati members without permission or compensation given to the landowner.

“In my information, the Ati tribe has already filed a Motion for Certiorari at the CA to make the appellate court decide if there were flaws in the decision of the DAR. Parallel to that, we welcome that remedy because it means that democracy remains alive,” said DAR Undersecretary Napoleon Galit during his virtual guest appearance on DAILY TRIBUNE’s digital show Straight Talk.

DAILY TRIBUNE tried to confirm the information with the Ati tribe’s leaders, but they have not answered the calls.

The Ati tribe has protested the DAR ruling. Through the help of a religious group, the indigenous people (IP) questioned the DAR resolution. One of the Ati leaders, Maria Tamboon, said they would fight for the land that belonged to them.

We are behind you

The IP questioned the DAR decision, with the backing of the Daughters of Charity religious congregation, which was pinpointed as instigating the Atis to make it appear that the landowners were trampling on IP rights.

Galit then said he was glad the nuns were protecting the Ati and that a compromise deal would be presented to them.

On Straight Talk, he said, “We have the immediate remedy to the problem, and we are now in the process of collating lands that are not far from Barangay Manoc-manoc, which is conducive for the Atis that will be displaced.” This confirmed Secretary Estrella’s assurance that DAR would not just leave the IPs out in the cold but would provide one to three hectares of land for the tribe.

Former President Rodrigo Duterte and his DAR secretary, John Castriciones, personally handed over the CLOAs to the Ati tribe in 2018. However, based on an examination by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Soil and Water Management in July 2022, the land was not arable or fit for agriculture.

“The area is characterized by excessively drained and shallow sandy clay loam textured soils derived from low limestone hills belonging to the Faraon series. There are abundant stones and gravel-size coralline limestone, and exposed coralline limestone bedrock and rock outcrops are classified as moderate to severe erosion,” the DA certification signed by the chief agriculturist of the Agricultural Land Management and Evaluation Division read.

Due diligence lacking

Amid the fracas, Galit said Castriciones, also a lawyer, committed a misappreciation of the facts presented to him by former DAR officials, from regional directors down to municipal agrarian reform officials.

“He is a lawyer, and I suppose the report was only provided. But it should have been reviewed. The report may not have been complete since it was private property and should not have been covered by a CLOA. If Castriciones knew that it was a private lot, he knew that it should not have been issued a CLOA,” he explained.

Galit reiterated that the period for issuing notices of coverage of private lands had lapsed in 2014, but the former DAR administration issued the CLOAs to the Ati in 2018.

Galit added that the Ati could not invoke Executive Order 75 because the disputed land was not even government-owned.

EO 75 directed all government agencies to identify public land that could be distributed to qualified beneficiaries.

“It is clear that the land is privately owned and does not belong to the government. There is a clear misappreciation of facts. I hope Castriciones knows that the DAR is mandated to provide arable lands that will not exceed three hectares. If you divide the 1,282-square meter property among 44 Atis, each would only get about 30 square meters, meaning the land is unsuitable for agriculture. It was as if you distributed land from plant pots. That’s not the mandate, which I think is the problematic part,” Galit explained.

“We can remedy the situation, but we need to apply the law,” he added.

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