DAR to finish Hacienda farmers' installation by May

MANILA, Philippines - The  Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said on Friday that it might be able to complete by the end of May the installation of over 6,000 farmer-beneficiaries in Hacienda Luisita, a vast sugarcane plantation owned by the family of President Benigno Aquino III.

The DAR said it has already installed 5,990 farmer-beneficiaries in Hacienda Luisita or 96.43 percent of 6,212 individuals who were awarded with lands under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II Ileona Pangilinan said that there are only 222 farmers-beneficiaries left to be installed.

"Unless there are no outside forces to hinder our activities, we will be finished before June. Almost all of the CARP-awarded lots were already placed with boundary markers or mujons," Pangilinan said.

She said some of the lands have still standing crops and would be harvested soon so that the DAR would be able to put mujons in the property and install the remaining farmer-beneficiaries.

Aside from awarding land to the farmer-beneficiaries, the DAR also offers them support services such as provision of credit facilities, farm machinery and training programs to increase the productivity of their newly-acquired lands.