“He has no aspiration or any plan whatsoever to address the widespread problem of landlessness, stop the conversion of agricultural lands and give farmers the social justice they truly deserve,” said KMP secretary general Antonio Flores in a statement.
Flores said “Castriciones’ appointment at DAR is just a political quid pro quo from Malacanang. To us, he is just a Duterte fans club president, a PMA kickout, and a former DILG official with a tainted background.”
“We have not seen anything monumental under his term at DAR. Vast haciendas and big landholdings in the country remain intact and under the control of landlords. No actual efforts were made to dismantle the land monopoly of oligarchs,” he said.
Flores said “Castriciones is totally missing the point of agrarian reform and social justice. Land reform is not equivalent to the mere distribution of CLOAs.”
“What is pivotal in agrarian reform is the breaking up of land monopolies and addressing the centuries-old problems of farmers to uproot them from feudal bondage,” he added.
Flores stressed that “as long as the control and dominance of big landlords over the landholdings remain, farmers can be easily displaced and evicted.
Under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, a CLOA was never an assurance of social justice and farmers’ emancipation from feudal exploitation.”
He also noted that “before Castriciones appointment at DAR, he was the president of volunteer group Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte National Executive Coordinating Committee, and an undersecretary of DILG.”
Flores also recalled that “Castriciones was removed from DILG following political controversies within the agency.” Castriciones was appointed as acting DAR chief in December 2017.
The Commission on Appointments bypassed his appointment last March.
