DAR to conduct inventory of Luisita lands

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) will conduct an inventory of lands it distributed to farmer-beneficiaries in Hacienda Luisita to check if any had been sold.

“We’ll take advantage of the harvest time. We could take a look at the harvest taken to sugar mills and the amount of harvest that were milled,” DAR Assistant Secretary Justin Vincent La Chica said yesterday.

The DAR completed the distribution of lands in the sugar estate in October 2013 and finished placing boundary markers last year.

Agrarian Secretary Virgilio delos Reyes said the department is providing support services to the beneficiaries in the form of loans, equipment and training.

Delos Reyes encouraged the beneficiaries to set up their own organizations or join groups to avail themselves of the government’s support services.

“We are helping the farmer-beneficiaries adjust to becoming landowners. If they are part of a group, they are able to organize themselves better with regard to farm production and marketing of their produce,” he said.