DAR assures land rights of actual tillers in 402-hectare San Isidro estate

By PAUL NIKKO M. SANTOS, DAR-Leyte
March 8, 2026

SAN ISIDRO, Leyte – Steadfast in its ongoing mandate to secure land rights for legitimate farmers, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) addressed decades-old agrarian disputes head-on during a Sangguniang Bayan inquiry in aid of legislation in this remote town on Monday, March 2.

Vice Mayor Carmichael Villarino and Councilor Rolando Piamonte Sr. initiated the session, in the presence of Mayor Remedio Veloso, to untangle brewing land disputes over a 402.5148-hectare property. The landholding, identified as Title No. T-1419 and formerly owned by the Margarita Agro-Industrial Corporation (MAIC), spans across Brgy. Biasong and Brgy. Crossing.

Tensions within the local agricultural community rose as field surveys under the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) Project revealed severe discrepancies on the ground. It was discovered that many of the 287 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) originally listed on the 1999 collective Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CCLOA) had abandoned or sold their lots, or were no longer tilling the land. This sparked fears of displacement among the rightful farmers who have been actually cultivating the parcels for years.

Social justice remains the ultimate arbiter in these disputes, according to DAR Leyte Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II (PARPO II) Roderick Rances. He made it clear to the assembly that individual e-titles will never be issued based on outdated lists, as the agency's absolute priority is establishing the truth on the ground to protect the legitimate cultivators.

The responsibility of uncovering that truth falls heavily on local field operatives. Rances detailed that Municipal Agrarian Reform Program Officer (MARPO) Zenaida L. Demillo and her team, in tight coordination with the Barangay Agrarian Reform Committee (BARC), are currently executing exhaustive field validations to rigorously screen and identify the legitimate cultivators.

During the Sangguniang Bayan deliberations, appropriate measures were undertaken to ensure the farmers, through their spokesperson, were duly represented and given the rare opportunity to be heard. Finally, long-standing recurring issues – such as the requirement of personal cultivation by the actual tillers and the erroneous identification of ARBs named in the CCLOA, among others – were addressed accordingly.

The presence of the 1999 collective title complicates matters due to the Torrens system, which legally binds the Register of Deeds to initially respect registered names. Breaking down this clash between rigid property laws and equitable agrarian justice, DAR Eastern Visayas Assistant Regional Director for Operations (ARDO) Atty. Bryan Lassiter laid out a firm boundary for the agency's actions.

"We are going to protect the actual tillers. Ultimately, ang ating actual tillers ang papangalanan sa titulo," Lassiter stressed, drawing strong support from the farmers in attendance.

To parcelize the landholding based on the names annotated in the collective title as mandated by Administrative Order No. 2, series of 2024, the DAR is simultaneously launching parallel legal interventions to defend the rightful cultivators. Legal Officers of Redocumentation Completion Teams (RCTs) will actively assist displaced and legitimate occupants in filing formal disqualification petitions against absentee, non-tilling awardees, and illegal displacers. The agency clarified that the technical parcelization and surveying of the land under Project SPLIT will proceed seamlessly alongside these pending agrarian law implementation cases to prevent unnecessary delays.

For local legislators, DAR's clear legal solutions provided immediate relief to the mounting tension. Piamonte, who chairs the Committee on Peace and Order, acknowledged the volatility of the situation on the ground, noting that DAR’s intervention prevented potential conflict. "Nahawhawan ko sa problema, sir... tingale magkagubot (A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders, sir... it might have caused chaos)," he admitted. Pointing to the actionable steps laid out to protect actual occupants, he openly commended the delegation: "Pasalamat ta sa mga personnel sa DAR na nia karon, sa atong PARPO, sa atong ARDO (Let us thank the DAR personnel present today, our PARPO, our ARDO)."

Meanwhile, Villarino reinforced this trust, directly urging the community to rely on DAR’s established processes. "Mga mag-uuma, duol mo sa DAR. Silay makasulbad. Silay makatabang sa ato (Farmers, approach the DAR. They can solve this. They can help us)," he advised.

Speaking on behalf of the local government, Villarino expressed deep appreciation for the DAR officials taking the time to face the issues head-on. "Magpasalamat ko sa inyong presensiya, sir. Nga natagan mi gyud ug higayon (I thank you for your presence, sir. That we were really given the opportunity)," he added, committing to send an LGU team to the provincial and regional offices for further consultations on other agrarian programs.