MANILA – Farmers in Tarlac will finally be receiving tracts of land belonging to Hacienda Luisita.

Agrarian Reform (DAR) Secretary Rafael Mariano on Thursday ordered the distribution of 358.22 hectares of land in Barangay Belete and Cutcut, Tarlac City owned and managed by the Tarlac Development Corporation-Hacienda Luisita (TADECO).

Hacienda Luisita is controlled by the Cojuangcos, the family of two former presidents, Corazon and Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III.

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The said tracts of land were outside the 4,915 hectares of Hacienda Luisita land which were ordered by the Supreme Court in 2012 be immediately distributed by DAR.

The Alyansa ng Manggagawang Bukid ng Asyenda Luisita (AMBALA) filed a petition seeking the coverage of the said properties under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

In 2014, then-DAR Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes issued a notice that the said tracts of land were to be covered in the CARP, and would undergo the process of land acquisition and distribution.

The DAR then proceeded to determine who were qualified to become beneficiaries. In December 2015, the agency came up with a preliminary list of 1,717 potential beneficiaries.

TADECO filed a protest and supplemental protest, but DAR denied it for lack of merit and ordered the properties be covered under CARP.

In a statement, Mariano maintained the validity of the publication of notices of coverage over eight parcels of land owned and registered in the name of TADECO.

Mariano has directed the DAR Provincial Office of Tarlac to immediately distribute the parcels of land, and to ensure that TADECO complies with the agency's order.

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