AGRARIAN Reform Secretary Rosalinda Bistoyong has launched a massive campaign dubbed “Kampanya Kontra Ariendo” in La Castellana, Bacolod City to address the rampant engagement of farmer-beneficiaries in illegal sale, transfer and lease of their awarded lands or the local practice of “arriendohanay.”
Citing the data culled by the Department of Agrarian Reform’s Negros Occidental South, she said the province was able to cover and distribute a total of 10,537 landholdings comprising 169,219.599 hectares to 73,406 beneficiaries.
“Unfortunately, out of 73,406 agrarian reform beneficiaries, only 28 percent or 20,751 of 73,406 agrarian reform beneficiaries were properly documented and profiled by DAR,” she added.
To address the rampant “arriendohanay,” DAR Negros Occidental 2 has intensified its campaign to remind the farmer-beneficiaries of the condition under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program prohibiting any sale, transfer, lease or any other form of conveyance by the beneficiaries of awarded lands within 10 years.
This DAR-initiated campaign came into force after data showed that as of Oct. 4, a total of 639 landholdings comprising of 16,598.1286 hectares were illegally leased, sold, conveyed and transferred by 8,145 beneficiaries.
According to Bistoyong, DAR Negros Occidental 2 is intensifying the documentation and profiling of beneficiaries and the implementation of the three major final outputs comprising of land tenure services, agrarian legal services and technical advisory for support services.
“There is no reason for the ARBs to lease out their land since the DAR already provides support services to make their land productive and provide them with a decent source of sustainable livelihood,” she said.
“The study revealed that among the major reasons the ARB’s engage in arriendohanay system includes lack of financial production capital, farm tools, and equipment, sufficient knowledge, strategies and skills relative to farm management, business and milling transactions, among others”.
She said the practice of aryendo is illegal and a willful and deliberate obstruction in the delivery of the agrarian reform program.