DAR ASSURES PARC RESOLUTION OF SDO CASES

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) assured protesting farmers from Hacienda Anita (SVJ Farms) and Hacienda Teresa (14 Colored Corporations) that it will facilitate the final resolution of the Stock Distribution Option (SDO) cases brought before the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC). The DAR, however, said that Notices of Coverage for these landholdings will only be issued once these cases are resolved by the PARC. The PARC is an inter-agency Council composed of representatives of the various CARP Implementing Agencies such as the DAR, DA, DBM, DENR, DOJ, OP, DOLE, NEDA, LBP as well as representatives of farmers’ organizations and the landowners.

The 14 Colored Corporations had previously filed their SDO application in May 1990 over Haciendas Teresa and Salamanca located in E.B. Magalona and La Carlota City, Negros Occidental, respectively, covering a total area of 972.6975 hectares. After this was denied in August 2002, a motion for reconsideration was filed in July 2003.

When the present management of the DAR assumed office, steps were undertaken to expedite action on this matter, and the PARC Executive Committee (ExeCom) regularly met to discuss and evaluate this matter, among others. A DAR legal opinion rendered in December 2010 that the SDO application should be denied prompted the creation of the Legal Panel chaired by DOJ Undersecretary Jose Vicente B. Salazar in February 2011. After five meetings, the Legal Panel recommended the denial of the SDO application.

The PARC ExeCom met on 26 October 2011 to act on the Legal Panel’s recommendation to deny the SDO application. However, it was unable to vote on the matter because the required number of voting members of the committee were not present. DAR Secretary Virgilio De Los Reyes earnestly enjoined all the representatives of the various agencies to ensure the attendance of their designated members to the meeting called on 16 November 2011 for the sole purpose of acting on this matter. In the event that the PARC ExeCom decides on the SDO application, the matter shall then be forwarded to the PARC itself for final decision. “As much as the DAR wants this matter settled quickly, the highest standards of due process must be observed, both in its substantive and procedural aspects”, said de los Reyes.

With respect to Hacienda Anita, the PARC Secretariat endorsed the petition for the revocation of the SDO to the DAR’s National Task Force on SDO just last month, for it to conduct an on-site investigation and validation of the issues raised. The Secretariat is currently awaiting the report of the Task Force, which it expects to be submitted shortly. Public Affairs Staff, Department of Agrarian Reform