Duterte mulls placing whole Negros under land reform

November 28, 2018

President Rodrigo Duterte said he might place the entire Negros Island under land reform. In an interview with reporters in Bohol on Tuesday night, Duterte said peace and order situation in Negros has been affected because of the land problem. He noted the "almost incessant" recruitment of the communist New People's Army in the area. "And the agitation for trouble is always there because the issue is clan. And I am studying if I should declare...But my order was really that those who are land beneficiaries, I ordered (Agrarian Refom Secretary John) Castriciones to place them in the possession of the land already. I said ASAP (as soon as possible) because if it would be delayed, the landowners, they go into a rigmarole of strategies and everything --- illegal, legal," he said. Duterte said he wants tenant-beneficiaries to be in possession of the land immediately. "And I might declare the entire island as a land reform area. I'm studying that," he stressed. "We cannot arrive at a peaceful resolution of this controversy if you do not address feudalism actually. That’s what happening there," he added. Duterte said it is now time that landowners look at the reality. Under the previous agrarian reform laws, there were areas in the country that were covered by the laws. However, the lands have not been distributed yet to the beneficiaries because of court battles as landowners have been opposing them. "The root cause really is --- it thrives best on issues about land reform or the absence of land of these so many people. And the communists are exploiting it," Duterte said. He accused the NPA of creating a federation of farmers, "then they go about looking for vacant lands and taking over plantations." But he reiterated his warning to farmers not to occupy lands. "I warned you that if you do that my order to the police and the military is to physically evict you. And if you do anything that is wrong and place the lives of my soldiers and policemen (in danger), I told them you can go right ahead and shoot them," he added. Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental are among the provinces covered by Memorandum Order No. 32, which Duterte issued ordering the police and the military to increase the deployment of troops to suppress lawless violence. Celerina Monte/DMS