DAVAO CITY (November 1) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday, reminded the New People’s Army (NPA) not to occupy government and private properties forcibly.
During the distribution of Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) to farmers in Northern Mindanao in Cagayan de Oro City, Wednesday, Duterte warned the armed group “Do not confiscate or seize or occupy the lands that are already owned. Don’t do that. Don’t steal lands that already have tenants.”
Duterte said the government would give the lands to the rightful beneficiaries in due time, saying there was no need for forcible occupation of such properties. “Just wait because I can’t speed things up.”
According to Duterte, the government through Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones to make the vacant lands available and ready for land reform.
“Let’s talk. I’ll give you land. What will I do with those anyway? It’s not mine. I told Secretary [Castriciones] to distribute government-owned lands tomorrow…the lands that weren’t included as reservation for schools,” he said.
On the same forum, Duterte ordered the military and police to arrest the communist groups and their allied groups and bring them to the police station if they resist the arrest orders violently.
During his Cagayan visit, Duterte handed over a total of 2,331 CLOAs, covering at least 5,808.0712 hectares of agricultural lands, and distributed to more than 3,000 Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) in Northern Mindanao.-Editha Z. Caduaya/NewsLine.ph with PND report
