The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) vehemently condemns the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) under Marcos Jr. for perpetuating landlessness and agrarian injustices, as revealed by recent Commission on Audit (COA) findings of ineligible beneficiaries and over-distribution of lands under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

“The Marcos Jr. administration’s epic failure to address the fundamental problems of land monopoly and rampant land disputes underscores its neglect of farmers’ rights and welfare,” says peasant leader Danilo Ramos of KMP.

COA’s audit report exposed glaring irregularities in DAR’s implementation of CARP. Unqualified individuals, including minors, retired police officers, and non-residents, were granted land, while others received parcels exceeding the legal limit of 3 hectares. These actions deprived legitimate farmer-beneficiaries of access to land.

It was also known that many awarded lands remain unproductive, repurposed for non-agricultural use such as commercial spaces and residential areas. Provincial offices also failed to screen beneficiaries according to CARP, leading to widespread abuses and discrepancies. In several regions like Zamboanga Sibugay, minors were listed as beneficiaries and awarded lands have been sold or converted, and in Ilocos Sur and Pangasinan, non-tillers and even overseas workers were given agricultural lands. In Iloilo and Leyte, some beneficiaries were unaware of the location of their awarded lands or unable to cultivate due to subdivisions or lack of government support.

“These findings are a testament to the systemic failures of DAR and the bogus CARP,” Ramos said, adding that CARP has long been exposed as a sham agrarian reform program. “Decades of so-called agrarian reform have done nothing to dismantle land monopolies or resolve land disputes. Instead, CARP has enabled corruption and inefficiency, betraying the agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) it claims to serve.”

KMP also slammed DAR’ inability to meet land acquisition and distribution (LAD) targets. In 2022, only 32.94% of target lands for CLOA registration were achieved, despite utilizing 97.94% of its ₱2.613 billion budget. Many lands under collective CLOAs remain undistributed for decades, depriving aging farmers of rightful ownership and perpetuating inequality.

The over-distribution of land has also led to conflicting claims among farmer-beneficiaries, exacerbating the already volatile state of land disputes across the country. Farmers across various regions have reported cases of harassment, land grabbing, and displacement, with DAR failing to resolve these issues in favor of rightful beneficiaries.

Meanwhile, the DAR’s distribution of agricultural lands under Executive Order No. 75 remains severely inadequate. As of 2023, only 2,000 hectares of government-owned lands have been distributed to farmers, far below the administration’s commitments. “The showcase COCROM distribution staged by DAR and Malacanang cannot conceal the grim reality of landlessness and social injustice that farmers endure.”

KMP reiterated its call for a genuine agrarian reform program that prioritizes free land distribution to farmers and the dismantling of land monopolies. The group also criticized President Marcos Jr.’s administration for continuing to sideline farmers’ demands while pushing neoliberal policies that aggravate landlessness and poverty in the countryside.

“This government’s inutility and complicity in perpetuating landlessness are unforgivable,” Ramos added. “It is high time for DAR and Marcos Jr. to be held accountable for their never-ending failures.”

KMP demands an congressional investigation into DAR’s irregular land distribution including the implementation of the World Bank-funded Support to Parcelization of Individual Land Titles (SPLIT) program that further deprive ARBs of land tenure security. The peasant group also urges farmers and agrarian reform advocates nationwide to remain vigilant and intensify the struggle for genuine agrarian reform. #