TACLOBAN CITY—Landless farmers in Leyte continue demanding their undistributed certificates of land ownership awards from the Department of Agrarian Reform.
“I hope the government will implement properly the rule of law, especially on land distribution. Land rights is human rights, shelter rights is human rights,” said Dhon Daganasol, farmer and spokesperson of Katarungan-Eastern Visayas.
“As a citizen, it is our right as farmers to live with dignity and decency. We are the ones who provide the basic commodities for everyone, aren’t we?” he asked.
The absence of proper rights and land tenure for farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries who were also hit by Typhoon “Yolanda” in November 2013 brought them insecurity in terms of availing assistance from government and humanitarian agencies, Daganasol said.
According to the Rural Poor Institute and Human Rights Inc., a network of non-government organizations that work on agrarian reform, rural development and rural democratization in 14 provinces across the country particularly in Yolanda-hit areas, the recovery of the landless survivors “will take longer than necessary or possibly never.”
In its assessment report, RIGHTS maintains that “securing land and property rights is vital to effective recovery of the most vulnerable sectors in the Yolanda-affected areas, namely farmers, fisherfolk and informal settlers.”
“Fast-tracking rehabilitation and reconstruction demands that the government focus on resolving land property rights concerns as soon as possible,” said the group in a report.
According to the group, the current Aquino administration “shows no indication that land property rights concern are being resolved by the government with a sense of urgency to mitigate the situation of survivors.”
RIGHTS added that poverty gap has substantially widened in Eastern Visayas and that many of the poor will take a longer time to escape poverty.
