THE land ownership issue at 200-hectare Hacienda Tinang in Concepcion in Tarlac has been resolved, with the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) is set to distribute land titles to 450 beneficiaries in the next two weeks, Secretary Conrado Estrella III said yesterday.
Estrella said the resolution was reached through DAR’s “formula of multiple shuttle diplomacy and constantly holding dialogues with the stakeholders.”
He added the claiming parties did not appeal or protest, making the resolution “final” and “executory.”
The ownership issue has been pending for almost three decades. Despite the grant of certificates of land ownership and award (CLOAs) to Tinang farmers, they had been unable to claim or use the land because of appeals from other claimants.
Estrella said the Tinang case is only one of the “vintage” cases that had been resolved by the department since the assumption of President Marcos Jr. as president last year.
“The President instructed us from the beginning of his term to address all pending cases, agrarian reform cases, because the President definitely subscribes to the adage that justice delayed is justice denied,” he said.
He said at the office of the DAR Secretary alone, there are around 2,400 pending which have been pending for three years to as long as 20 years.
He also said he is set to sign around 200 resolved cases today, which will bring the number of resolved cases to around 1,200 or close to half of the pending cases. This does not include cases pending in DAR’s provincial and regional offices.
Estrella said among the causes of delay for the resolution of cases is the lack or insufficient lawyers to handle the cases.
He said DAR is looking for 64 lawyers to enable the department to be able to resolve the pending cases faster.
