The recent statement by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) regarding its so-called accomplishments under the Marcos Jr. administration fails to address the fundamental issues plaguing rural communities. While DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III boasts of land distribution figures and financial relief measures, these efforts remain within the framework of the flawed and bankrupt Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), which has long proven to be anti-farmer and anti-people.

DAR claimed that as of December 31, 2024, it has distributed 194,111 land titles covering 229,545 hectares of agricultural lands to 186,290 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs). Under the SPLIT project, 132,393 individual land titles covering 170,718 hectares have been distributed to more than 124,000 ARBs. Under the regular land acquisition and distribution (LAD) program, 61,718 land titles covering 58,828 hectares were awarded to 61,669 ARBs.

Danilo Ramos, chairperson of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and Makabayan senatorial candidate, criticized DAR’s claims, stating, “The so-called achievements of DAR are far from genuine land reform a. Free land distribution is the necessary first step in addressing widespread landlessness, poverty, hunger, and armed conflict in the country. What DAR promotes remains rooted in the failed CARP, which continues to deprive farmers and agricultural workers.”

One of the most glaring issues in DAR’s report is its lack of recognition of farmers who have been displaced or whose land claims have been canceled. While the agency presents figures on land titles distributed, it remains silent on how many farmers have actually lost access to land due to CLOA cancellations, forced evictions, and massive land-use conversion. Without addressing these realities, DAR’s statistics are misleading and do not reflect the worsening landlessness and suffering of farmers.

DAR’s reliance on the World Bank-funded Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) project raises concerns. Instead of fostering collective ownership and cooperation among farmers, SPLIT serves to divide them, making them more vulnerable to economic hardships, land speculation, and land-use conversion. “DAR’s focus on parcelization facilitates their fragmentation while ignoring the chronic economic crisis, skyrocketing farm costs, and expanding land speculation,” Ramos pointed out.

The so-called achievements in agrarian justice are equally dubious. While DAR claims a high case resolution rate, it does not account for how many of these cases ended in favor of farmers. Many farmers who lose their land disputes are still counted in DAR’s success metrics, further exposing the flawed nature of agrarian justice under CARP.

DAR’s promotion of the New Agrarian Emancipation Act (NAEA) and the issuance of Certificates of Condonation with Release of Mortgage (COCROMs) attempts to conceal the failure of Presidential Decree 27 and CARP. These policies have only pushed farmers into deeper financial distress, as many were eventually evicted from their land due to their inability to pay amortization. “These so-called debt relief measures fail to address the fundamental need for genuine agrarian reform based on free land distribution,” Ramos emphasized.

DAR’s future plans to distribute 400,000 hectares of land mean little in the face of the Marcos Jr’s continued implementation of neoliberal agricultural policies, such as the rice liberalization law. These policies have devastated local rice production, forcing farmers into debt and pushing many out of agriculture altogether. The contradiction is clear: while DAR claims to support farmers, government policies continue to devastate their livelihoods.

DAR’s pronouncements are worthless in addressing the deeply entrenched semi-feudal and semi-colonial system in the countryside. The continued dominance of landlords and big comprador bourgeoisie ensures that poverty and hunger persist among peasant families and agricultural workers. This is far from the national-democratic demands of farmers genuine land reform and free land distribution should advance in pursuit of national industrialization for the benefit of the Filipino people.

Farmers’ call remains clear: “Ibasura ang CARP! Ipaglaban ang tunay na reporma sa lupa!” The struggle for genuine agrarian reform continues, driven by the urgent need for free land distribution and social justice for millions of landless peasants and farmworkers across the country.” ###