Rody distributes remaining Hacienda Luisita land

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) on Tuesday distributed the remaining portion of Hacienda Luisita – to farmer-beneficiaries under the agrarian reform program with no less than President Rodrigo Duterte leading the ceremony.

In a statement, DAR Secretary John Castriciones said that the 112 hectares of land in Tarlac will be among the 87,645 hectares of land to be distributed to qualified farmers as part of the 31st Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) anniversary this year.

CARP is a social justice government program that aims to grant landless farmers and farmworkers ownership of agricultural lands and was implemented through Republic Act 6657 signed by former President Corazon Aquino in 1988.

Previously, Duterte said that Aquino made an incongruous decision of allegedly excluding the Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita from the government’s agrarian reform program and in 2012, the Supreme Court ordered the distribution of Hacienda Luisita’s 4,915-hectare agricultural lands to the original farmer-beneficiaries.

Castriciones also said that DAR is investigating reports of supposed conversion of Hacienda Luisita land from agricultural to industrial use.