Castriciones hounded by voided DAR CLOAs

Yet another “victim” of the allegedly anomalous issuance of Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) in Boracay island by then-Secretary John Castriciones of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) during the Duterte administration has surfaced.

Former Barangay Manoc-Manoc chairperson Danilo delos Santos complained in a letter to the DAR dated 8 March that the department under Castriciones illegally appropriated nearly 8,000 square meters of land he and his 14 siblings inherited.

Delos Santos filed the complaint before Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella. A similar complaint had been filed about another CLOA issued by Castriciones for a property measuring 1,282 square meters.

The DAR has since revoked the CLOA covering the 1,282 square meters for violating provisions of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

Both parcels of land are beachside, so they are not arable and, therefore, not suitable for CARP application. The minimum size of distributable land under CARP was also violated.

Delos Santos said Castriciones’ CLOA covering their land, originally measuring 1.78 hectares until his father sold one hectare, was without his family’s permission. He said his family intended to divide the property among the siblings.

The CLOAs were issued by Castriciones purportedly for the benefit of members of the Ati tribe in the island resort paradise in Malay, Aklan.

The 1,282-square-meter lot was in the spotlight when nuns tried to stop its reversion to its original owner, as ordered by a court following the cancellation of the CLOA issued by Castriciones.

“To our surprise, in November 2018, our inherited land was already titled under a CLOA. The 8,000-square meter property has been awarded by Secretary John Castriciones to 44 members of the Ati tribe,” he said in his letter.

Not notified

Delos Santos told Estrella that DAR did not notify them that their property would be subject to CARP, and they were not paid just compensation for the expropriated property.

He maintained that their land was not applicable for CLOA titling and distribution as Republic Act 9700, or the act that amended the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, mandated that only land measuring five hectares or more may be expropriated.

The former village chief said they were not allowed entry into their now-fenced property.

“We are asking for your help on this. Moreover, we discovered that the land they sequestered from us was not used to plant any crop,” he told Estrella. “It’s a fact that our land is located on the beachfront, which is not suitable for planting.”

He claimed previous officials of the local DAR office were involved in a scheme where they identified Ati “beneficiaries” in the CLOA and then sold the land to buyers. The Ati tribe was able to hire a private security agency to maintain control of the property.

Delos Santos said he was not inclined to lodge complaints against Castriciones, but what is certain is that they want to reclaim their land.

“If they will pay us for damages, why not? But they could just return our land to us,” he said.

Misappreciation

In an exclusive interview, DAR Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Napoleon Galit said Castriciones seemed to have misappreciated the facts concerning the properties, saying he could not blame the former DAR official since he only got feedback from his field officers.

“Of course, he (Castriciones) trusted them (DAR personnel). But what we have proven is that the lands involved are not agricultural; therefore, they cannot be awarded,” Galit said in a phone interview.

Ombudsman-bound?

A lawyer, who requested anonymity, told DAILY TRIBUNE that a case may be filed against Castriciones before the Ombudsman for gross violation of the CARP Law and the Constitution for the unjust seizure of private lands.

“This is an instance of a graft and corrupt practice causing undue injuries to private individuals that is punishable under Philippine laws,” the lawyer said.

Agrarian Reform Secretary Estrella on Thursday appealed to those involved in the brouhaha not to drag the names of former President Rodrigo Duterte and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the matter.

“I just want to make it clear that the past and the present presidents had done a lot for the agrarian reform beneficiaries,” he said.

Estrella said Duterte issued Executive Order 75, which directed all government agencies to turn over all government-owned farmlands to the DAR and place them under CARP coverage for distribution to landless farmers.

Estrella said that the DAR under Castriciones implemented the Support for Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling, which was funded by the World Bank.

Marcos, on the other hand, has provided more funds to the DAR for support services for agrarian reform beneficiaries. He also signed the New Agrarian Emancipation Act of 2023, which condoned the unpaid amortization, interest, surcharges, and penalties of farmers’ existing loans.

DAILY TRIBUNE has been contacting Castriciones and the Daughters of Charity congregation for their comments on their questionable actions pertaining to the 1,282 square meters. The efforts to get their side have proven futile as of press time.