Duterte: Sale of land from reform program prohibited

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte delivers his speech following the oath-taking ceremony of newly appointed officials at the Malacañan Palace on September 17, 2019. ALFRED FRIAS/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

President Rodrigo Duterte late Thursday stressed that he will not honor the sale of land distributed under the land reform program, saying that it was prohibited by the law.

“I will not honor that sale,” Duterte said in his speech during the decommissioning of arms and forces of former communist rebels in Jamindin, Capiz.

The President also ordered Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones to fast-track the land reform process to enact immediately the distribution of land titles to agrarian reform beneficiaries.

To recall, Duterte made land reform program among his government’s key initiatives to address the ongoing communist insurgency in the Philippines.

The President also assured rebel returnees of protection to the point that he suggested that he is open to arming them if communist rebels harassed them.