It’s a tricky job for regulators to find that sweet spot between the rights of the original landowners and the indigenous peoples (IPs) or farmers tangled up in land disputes. But Agrarian Reform Undersecretary, Atty. Napoleon Galit, is all about ensuring the current laws are followed fairly, even if it’s a tough pill for some to swallow.

Undoubtedly, there have been many cases where farmers and IPs felt the sting of land disputes, especially with major real estate players transforming idle lands into bustling subdivisions and malls.

Galit, however, stands firm, emphasizing that the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) is unwavering in safeguarding the rights of farmers and IPs. They abide by well-thought-out laws that aim to ensure just and equitable land distribution and ownership in the country.

“Nurtured as advocates of law, we go by the spirit, not by its letters. We always uphold the law with the least adverse effects on anybody, as the edict says: fiat justitia ruat caelum (let justice be done, though the heavens fall). We administer justice to all regardless of their stature in life without being oblivious to the rule that the law should apply to those who have less in life,” Galit told the DAILY TRIBUNE.

The 71-year-old undersecretary said the DAR, with its mandate to lead in implementing the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) through land tenure improvement, agrarian justice, and coordinated delivery of essential support services to client beneficiaries, is working tirelessly to provide substantial lands to farmers who do not have lands to cultivate.

“The situation of land ownership is proactive in the country, where the farmers are actively cultivated for agriculture with active support from the government. With DAR and DA (Department of Agriculture) as the lead agencies extending all-out support, such as our modern science and technology machinery, farm inputs and fertilizer continuous education, idle lands not susceptible to agriculture are harnessed and put to use depending on their usability either for housing, industrial, commercial, or tourism, a lot of presidential proclamations and statutory enactments were in place and promulgated,” he said.

Emancipation

He described President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration as simply extraordinary for lightening the load of agrarian reform beneficiaries, particularly when the Chief Executive made the bold move to forgive all outstanding land tax debts of farmers — carrying on the compassionate legacy of his father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

“The New Emancipation Act, known as the Condonation Law or RA 11953, was enacted and ultimately liberated our farmers from the burden of paying amortizations. The lands they till are now wholly owned by them, free with the government taking charge of compensation for the landowners,” he said.

Currently, he said farmers have significantly more land available for cultivation, as the distribution process is moving at a faster pace than ever before, with the Department of Agrarian Reform making use of government agricultural lands.

“It is through various Presidential directives by the current government implementing EO 407 and EO 75 at its rapid stage that substantial numbers of farmers now have the lands they cultivate,” according to Galit.

More land for farmers

With Marcos’ directive to ensure that farmers without land receive adequate plots, Galit emphasized the need to allocate more before the President’s term concludes.

“Given the enormity of the work being undertaken by DAR resolving cases that are 30 or more years in the docket in a win-win solution, we foresee a staggering number of farmers will have more lands, leaving behind the specter of never-ending disputes and controversies between farmers and landowners and among farmers themselves,” he said.

He explained that the conflicts arose from the failure to distinguish individual shares within the complex system of collective CLOAs (Certificate of Land Ownership Awards)

— an issue being addressed through the extensive SPLIT operation or individual surveys conducted by the DAR.

With the directives from President Marcos and DAR Secretary Conrad Estrella, he said efforts are being made to resolve these problems farmers face without disregarding the operational cooperatives that are thriving and contributing significantly to production.

He went on to say that DAR Secretary Estrella earlier committed to distributing the remaining one million land titles to farmer-beneficiaries before President Marcos’ term concludes in June 2028.

The goal is to issue 100,000 land titles this year and double it by 2025.

Before Estrella’s tenure, the annual distribution of land titles was only around 15,000. However, since assuming office, from 1 July to 31 December 2022, DAR has managed to release over 22,000 land titles in just six months.

Tweaking past flawed laws

In a previous interview, Galit disclosed that when the CARP Law was implemented in 1988, issues with land distribution began to arise, particularly concerning the questionable allocation of collective Certificate of Land Ownership Awards to Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs).

DAR had to invalidate CLOAs granted to dubious recipients, as seen in the recent controversy in Boracay. The CLOAs of 44 Ati tribe members were revoked because the land they held titles to belonged to someone else.

The land, spanning over 1,200 hectares in Barangay Manoc-manoc in Malay, was not even classified as agricultural land. It was distributed to them by then-Secretary John Castriciones during President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration in 2018.

He said, though, that is not the time to finger-point like the cliche “Let bygones be bygones.”

“The present DAR is not pointing fingers at all past administrations. Instead, buckle down to work and institute suitable reforms balancing the farmer’s rights in the agricultural sectors. The landowners and even the tribal communities or the ICC/IP claim ancestral land first. In doing so, DAR is guided by laws, thereby upholding all relevant laws in the disposition of cases, avoiding implementation of EO 75 on private landholdings after the deadline set by RA 9700 on 30 June 2014,” he said.

In such instances, Galit said Secretary Estrella instructs all DAR personnel to identify government lands and guarantee their distribution to all ARBs and IPs who may have been impacted by improper and inappropriate coverage — an approach that ensures compliance with the law while prioritizing the welfare of our farmers and IPs.

In light of this, Galit emphasized the need to amend the CARP Law regarding the issuance of collective CLOAs.

“There are many agrarian reform-related laws, and while they may be imperfect, given the appropriate implementation, the DAR program can meet its mandate. If there is one specific provision best amended, it is to avoid the issuance of collective CLOA, which has been the source of resentment among the farmers like the decades squabble among hundreds of farmers in Barangay Tinang, Tarlac, which was recently resolved at a record speed of less than 60 days,” he said.

Not his dream

Galit, who graduated from the University of Manila with a specialization in land laws, shared that his initial aspiration was to become a policeman. However, his path led him elsewhere, despite a brief period of service in the military.

“To be a policeman was my dream. And so, being related to the profession of a lawyer, I was given this gift of lawyering, trying to hammer out fair resolutions of cases in an imperfect world with God taking care of the rest,” he said.

When asked about his idols, Galit said he admires the former president, Marcos Sr., for his unparalleled knowledge of laws.

“He crafted almost all of them, and up to now, we follow and adhere to them. Also, the late President Ramon Magsaysay, in his love for the masses. Sports-wise, the legend Caloy Loyzaga and the great Gabriel Elorde, the real icon of boxing,” he stated.

In his vision for the country, Galit wanted “more progress in terms of land ownership to the large extent by the farmers cultivating lands which they may call their own.”

“Given the pace of land distribution tilled by farmers, we see that it greatly contributes to our economy by easing importation and relying upon our own domestically produced products. May God bless us all!”