Duterte hands out land titles to former rebels

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY  , Philippines  —   Former communist and Muslim rebels were among the recipients of land titles given by President Duterte under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

Duterte led the distribution of Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) to at least 3,400 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), covering 5,808 hectares of land, in Northern Mindanao on Wednesday night.

Among the five provinces in the region, Lanao del Norte has the most number of ARBs with 1,807, among them 664 are collective beneficiaries and 1,143 individuals.

Lanao del Norte has a total of 3,856.8945 hectares covered under agrarian reform in the municipalities of Nunungan, Sapad and Munai.

According to the Department of Agrarian Reform-10 (DAR-10), among the recipients of the CLOAs were members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) from Munai who were given 613.3009 hectares.

Following Lanao del Norte is Bukidnon with a total of 1,218 beneficiaries receiving 1,527.4515 hectares; Misamis Oriental, 241 beneficiaries, 296.6230 hectares; and Misamis Occidental, 134 beneficiaries, 127.1022 hectares.

In Gingoog City, a component city in Misamis Oriental, about 283 hectares were given out to former members of the New People’s Army (NPA) who have organized themselves into the Tagpako Farmers’ Cooperative.

In his speech, Duterte ordered Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones to prioritize the distribution of lands covered under CARP in Negros island and elsewhere in the country.

“I told him to give everything up for land reform there in Bacolod. For the beneficiaries who were unable to benefit from it, I ordered Secretary Castriciones to give it away. But don’t steal and kill people because if you do, my order to the police and the military is to have you evicted,” the President cautioned.

Duterte said he would give the lands to qualified beneficiaries, but told them it can’t be done overnight and that there was no need for forcible occupation of such properties.

The President has also warned the NPA not to occupy government and private properties forcibly.

“Let’s talk. I’ll give you land. What will I do with those anyway? It’s not mine. I told Secretary (Castriciones) to distribute government-owned lands tomorrow… the lands that weren’t included as reservation for schools,” he said.

He also ordered the military and police to arrest the communists and their allied groups and bring them to the police station if they resist arrest violently.

Soldiers encountered NPA members in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija last Saturday after a former rebel surrenderee reported to the military the location of the rebels in Barangay Malbang.

Lt. Col. Eugenio Julio Osias IV, spokesman for the Army’s 7th  Infantry Division, said the rebels suffered a still undetermined number of casualties.

One soldier was injured in the 30-minute firefight.

Osias said former rebel Joel Abalos Caliwliw gave the military the information on the location of the rebels in Pantabangan.  – With Michael Punongbayan, Victor Martin