DAR: Drawing Of Lots Most Fair To Hacienda Farmworkers The drawing of lots using a tambiolo (lottery drum) is the fairest and most transparent system of allocating farmlots to farmworkers in a sugar plantation such as Hacienda Luisita. This was stressed by Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio delos Reyes to debunk allegations by AMBALA that the use of raffle draw to allocate farm lots in Hacienda Luisita is “very unscientific and idiotic”. Delos Reyes noted that the drawing of lots is necessary since hacienda farmworkers, unlike tenants in rice and corn lands, do not work on specific parcels and thus have no permanent farmlots to claim as their own. “There are two types of land being covered by agrarian reform: the tenanted land where farmers share the harvest with land owners, and the plantation-type lands where farmworkers get wages for their labor,” Delos Reyes said. “Farmworkers in plantations like Hacienda Luisita, are given assignments depending on the planting cycle in a year. They have no fixed parcel of land to till and their tasks vary from time to time, depending on the operational needs of the hacienda owners or plantation managers,” he added. The situation in Hacienda Luisita became more complicated when the hacienda stopped operations sometime in 2005. Delos Reyes said reports reaching the DAR Provincial Office in Tarlac showed that when Hacienda Luisita stopped operations, a number of farmworkers, including those from organized groups such as AMBALA and ULWU, staked claims on specific farmlots of various sizes. Some of these farmworkers tilled the land they claimed, while others entered into informal arrangements by leasing out said lots on which they have staked their claims to financiers. “The DAR did not sanction this, and we do not recognize these unilateral actions in our lot allocation activity. To do so would be inconsistent with the goal of having an orderly system of lot allocation, and would also be unfair to the overwhelming majority of beneficiaries who opted not to stake their own informal claims,” Delos Reyes said. Delos Reyes further explained that the drawing of lots using a tambiolo would also prevent disputes that may result from competing claims among farmworkers for specific portions of the sugar plantation. “In Hacienda Luisita, for example, you have more than 6,212 qualified beneficiaries competing for 4,099 hectares of land. Every beneficiary has a preferred choice of location, so one can expect competing claims on specific farm lots,” the DAR chief said. “The DAR also considered the fact that there are five farmers’ groups operating in Hacienda Luisita, which have their own choices of location for their members,” he added. The DAR chief noted that lot allocation in smaller plantations is easier to manage as farmworkers can agree among themselves on the location of farm lots to be awarded individually. What complicated matters in Hacienda Luisita, he said, was the attempt by some farmers’ groups to take over and control specific portions of the vast sugar estate. “We do not give preferential treatment to any one person or group, nor to those who simply happen to have the loudest voice and who had already staked their claim. We must treat all qualified beneficiaries in Hacienda Luisita equally and fairly,” he pointed out. Delos Reyes also said that the drawing of lots is an established practice of the DAR in agricultural lands where the unorganized beneficiaries outnumber the organized ones, as well as in medium-sized landholdings where there is no actual possession by the potential beneficiaries. Aside from Negros Occidental, this has also been done in the Bicol region, among others, he added. Delos Reyes noted that the lot allocation activity in Barangay Cutcut last Thursday had been hailed as “very open and transparent” by the parish priest in the area and other independent observers, such as Rev. Fr. Francis Lucas of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Social Communications and Mass Media (ECSCMM). He added that the entire event was witnessed and documented by many members of the media, some of whom were even invited to draw the names of beneficiaries from the tambiolo. All 645 farmlots were allocated to the beneficiaries in Barangay Cutcut in a festive atmosphere. None of those present or represented refused to sign the Application to Purchase and Farmer’s Undertaking (APFU) forms. It was also explained to the farmers that each of them would have access to roads or firebreaks which also serve as access roads. According to the DAR chief, this is the best proof that the system is acceptable to the beneficiaries, after seeing for themselves the organized, orderly, transparent, and fair manner by which the lot allocation was conducted. At the start of the lot allocation day, the individual papers containing the names of the qualified farmworker-beneficiaries were inserted one by one inside letter envelopes. This process was conducted in front of the beneficiaries, who witnessed how the individual envelopes were placed inside transparent boxes. After all names had been put in their respective envelopes and dropped inside the transparent boxes, the contents of all the boxes were dropped into a raffle drum (tambiolo) in full view of the public. A disinterested person was then invited to draw from the raffle drum. The beneficiaries whose names were drawn from the raffle drum were allocated the lots in a sequential manner (each lot is numbered). A DAR official then point out, on a projected digital map and on a map printed in tarpaulin, the particular farm lot to be allocated. “We point out the lot first before the name is drawn. In this manner, we avoid any accusation of preferential treatment in locating the beneficiary’s individual farm lot,” Delos Reyes said. The beneficiary whose name was drawn was then given a Lot Allocation Certificate, which indicates his name as well as the lot number for the farm lot that has been allocated. Beneficiaries were also previously given a choice to be in groups for the raffle, indicating their preference to have their farmlots adjacent to each other. More than half of the total number of qualified beneficiaries, mostly family members, submitted forms for this purpose. When a group is drawn from the raffle drum, all members of the group immediately see the location of their adjacent lots, allocated also on a sequential basis, and are then issued their respective Lot Allocation Certificates. The Lot Allocation Certificates of beneficiaries who were not present and who did not send a representative were kept, in the meantime, by the DAR. The beneficiary concerned can later claim his Lot Allocation Certificate at the DAR Provincial Office in Tarlac. After receiving their Lot Allocation Certificates, the beneficiaries were oriented on their rights and obligations with respect to their CARP-awarded land. They then read and sign the Application to Purchase and Farmers’ Undertaking (APFU), which was subscribed and sworn to, free of charge, before a DAR officer authorized to administer oaths under pertinent DAR guidelines. Delos Reyes noted that the APFU is a mandatory requirement for the generation and registration of the Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA), the title to be given to the farmworker-beneficiary for his CARPawarded land. (admin-pas)
Posted on: Sun, 21 Jul 2013 12:15:45 +0000
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