I S S U E N O .

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Rolling out: P5B
for agrarian
reform
beneficiaries
BY BLANCHE RIVERA-FERNANDEZ
There are a lot of open secrets at the
Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac. The most open
and the least secret are the arrienda (lease or
rent) being arranged by farmers even before
the contentious land is distributed to them.
The Department of Agrarian Reform has
heard the same whispers, too, from different
places. But by this time, the government
knows talk is cheap, so its letting its money
talk backloud and clear.
Its illegal and we will not honor that,
but its real on the ground. Thats why this
is what were solving first, Agrarian Reform
Undersecretary Jerry Pacturan said.
If you see the amounts we have
now, its really quite substantial: P2 billion
for credit fund, P1 billion for insurance,
P2 billion for ARCCESS, which is mostly
equipment and services. Thats about P5
insurance for crops and livestock,
rural infrastructures, and land tenure
improvement and stability.
The DAR first rolled out the common
service facilities last year, which are basically
big farm machines that farmer organizations
could not afford, such as tractors, hauling
trucks, combine harvesters, threshers (as
pictured above) and decorticating machines.
The machinery requires a 15-percent
equity from the recipient ARB
organizations but in the form of labor
or land. There will be no cash-out for
the farmers. They must, however, agree
to receive agri-extension and business
development services as well.
Sometimes this concept of
entitlement is so strong in the marginal
sector that when something is given,
theyll say they will do what they want
with it because its theirs, not aware
perhaps of the implication that while
this is free, this is public good given by
government. They should utilize it as
a business asset. Otherwise, it will be
gone in a few months or years. Thats
why they should be taught how to set
up, how to use it, through the business
development services, Pacturan said.
Since the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Program was launched in 1988,
there have been around 2.5 million
agrarian reform beneficiaries, and only
half of them are organized.
A PROJEC
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billion that will have to be spent for the
year, he said. Pacturan heads the DARs
support services office.
ARCCESS is Agrarian Reform
Community Connectivity and Economic
Support Services, a massive and
systematic effort by the DAR to help
increase the income of organized
agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) by
strengthening their business operations
and teaching them to grow and manage
their assets.
ARCCESS MENU
The ARCCESS would fill in the gaps
left by foreign-assisted projects (FAP),
which provided mostly farm-to-market
roads, post-harvest facilities, irrigation
sources, potable water supply, health
stations and other rural infrastructures.
These were post-harvest facilities,
normally a building used for storage, but
what will you put in there? How do you
ensure that you have something to store
in that warehouse? Pacturan said.
While we were looking at those
components of FAP, we knew something
was missing. The missing part was how to
maximize input from the foreign-assisted
projects, he said.
The services offered under the
ARCCESS include agri-technology and
agri-extension, business development,
common service facilities, credit, P
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agrarian reform matters 02 03 I S S U E N O . 3 | M A R - A P R 2 0 1 3
S T A F F B O X
EDITORI AL DIRECTOR
EDITOR
DESIGNER
EDITORI AL COORDINATOR
REGIONAL COORDINATOR
COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT
HUGO YONZON III
BLANCHE R. FERNANDEZ
ADRIENNE RAE PONCE
PINKY ROQUE
NORMA PADIGOS
ROSALINA BISTOYONG
DAR Public Affairs Office
Elliptical Road, Diliman,
Quezon City, Philippines
All rights reserved. No part of this document may
be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means without the prior written consent of
the department.
Department of Agrarian Reform
(+632) 480 39 61
dar.gov.ph@gmail.com
www.dar.gov.ph
I S S U E N O . 3 | M A R - A P R 2 0 1 3
Numbers
hectare estimated
area to be given to
each farmer when the
hacienda is subdivided
lawyers, legal staff and other DAR
personnel who conducted redundancy
checks on the final list of beneficiaries
years the stock
distribution option
was in effect
farm
workers
included in DARs final
list of beneficiaries
0.6
130
22
6,212
N E W S
Set on developing farmers as business managers, the Department
of Agrarian Reform has created a program aimed at honing the
management and marketing skills of agrarian reform beneficiaries.
The Program Beneficiaries Development Lawyering seeks to
make farm managers out of farmers by training them to use the
land awarded to them as social capital.
Under the program, the DAR will form a pool of legal and
support services staff in the DAR provincial offices and train them
as learning coaches.
They will teach the farmers about tapping credit facilities and
other financial resources, expanding their enterprise, getting private
investments, mitigating risks in production and business, and
marketing their products.
The role of DAR is not only as a distributor of agricultural
land but an orchestrator of rural development, Agrarian Reform
Secretary Virgilio delos Reyes said in a statement.
Also known as Enterprise Lawyering, the program particularly
seeks to mentor agrarian reform beneficiaries facing credit-related
constraints and challenges.
This is a unique training program where the combined
expertise of the DARs legal and support services offices are
harnessed to enhance the access to credit of agrarian reform
beneficiaries and their organizations, de los Reyes said.
He said the program would ultimately promote countryside
development by helping farmers to strengthen their organizations,
understand relevant research, and actively engage the market.
Trainings of agrarian reform beneficiaries in Cebu, Cagayan de
Oro and Rizal have just concluded.
Farmers being trained as
business managers
Rice farming technology helps
fight climate change
Philrice is working hard to address the
challenges posed by climate change to
farming; (INSET) Government ofcials
unveil the successful mixed technology
to be implemented in 38 new sites
across the country. Photos: DAR
LOWDOWN ON LUISITA
Good health and a good roadsometimes, thats all a farmer needs.
Agrarian reform beneficiaries in Zamboanga del Sur received
these and more last April when the Department of Agrarian Reform
turned over P50 million worth of infrastructure projects.
The concreting of the 5.8-km Begong-Limas road will benefit 300
farmer-beneficiaries and 6,439 local residents.
This road project will lessen the travel time and transport
cost of farmers, and will also help residents in going from town to
town with ease, DAR regional director Julita Ragandang said. She
explained that the Begong-Limas stretch becomes very muddy and
difficult to traverse in rainy months.
Along with the P46.3-million farm-to-market road, the DAR also
turned over a P1.09-million health station and P3.16 million worth of
farm equipment.
These include 15 units of hand tractors, reapers and threshers.
They will be used by nine farmers organizations with some 4,800
members who are beneficiaries of land reform.
The farm equipment are counted among the common service
facilities being given by the DAR to various organizations of
agrarian reform beneficiaries under its Agrarian Reform Community
Connectivity and Economic Support Services.
Zamboanga del Sur farmers
receive P50-M infrastructures
2
MAKATI CITIES CAN FIT
INSIDE HACIENDA LUISITA
Climate change is probably the single worst enemy of farming
in this ageand Filipino farmers are finally finding a way to
beat it, one hectare at a time.
Agrarian reform beneficiaries in Nueva Ecija have successfully
implemented the Philippine Rice Research Institutes (Philrice)
reduced tillage and PalayCheck farming technology, new systems
that allow farmers to reduce cost, increase yield and abandon
practices that contribute to climate change.
A test run of the combined systems resulted in a
17.6-percent increase in the harvest of rice farmers from the
towns of Talavera and Munoz in Nueva Ecija, where the mixed
technology was pilot-tested. This means the farmers harvested
20 more sacks of palay per hectare while reducing land
preparation expenses by more than half.
For my half-hectare farm, I usually spend 15-20 liters
of fuel and P5,000 for machine rent. This wet season, I only
consumed eight liters, Erlinda Jimenez, who has been farming
for 15 years, said. She was surprised that the soil was as good
for planting as when it was plowed.
The combined system almost eliminates the plowing and
harrowing parts of soil preparation during the planting season.
Farmers simply need to level the soil using a leveler attached to a
hand tractor to flatten the rice stalks that remain after the harvest.
This leads to less soil disturbance, thus, reducing carbon
emission into the atmosphere as we merely press stubbles and
weeds, leaving the soil intact or less disturbed, if at all, Engr.
Isidro Villaflor, the technology proponent, said.
Soil releases a big amount of carbon dioxide during
plowing, but when it is left undisturbed, the carbon dioxide
remains trapped underneath.
With this technology, little or no use of machine for land
preparation means the soil is not heavily disturbed, resulting in
less fuel use and less carbon emission, said PhilRice project
coordinator Ruben B. Miranda.
It also helps save on labor cost, which can account for up
to 70 percent of total input cost in production, he said.
Farmers who tried the PalayCheck-cum-reduced tillage
technology in Talavera reported savings of almost P4,000 for
6-11 hours of land preparation. Before trying this combined
system, they used to spend an average of P9,000 per hectare
and about 17 hours on land preparation.
The new technology was the object of a memorandum
of agreement signed by the Department of Agrarian Reform,
PhilRice, and the Department of Agriculture last February 27 at
the PhilRice Central Experiment Station in Munoz, Nueva Ecija.
Agrarian Reform Undersecretary Rosalina Bistoyong,
who worked to bring the technology to agrarian reform
communities, said the reduced tillage-cum-PalayCheck system
would be adopted in 38 sites in 12 cities and municipalities
beginning this July. Report from Richard Gallardo
ALMOST
agrarian reform matters 04 05 I S S U E N O . 3 | M A R - A P R 2 0 1 3
S U C C E S S S T O R Y
The concept is so simple yet
so often overlooked: there is
strength in numbers.
In an industry such as
sugarcane farming, in a country
that fights tooth-and-nail for a
share of the world sugar market,
this concept could mean life or
death for a small farmland.
Where Leopoldo Bathan is
from, sugarcane farmers are alive
and planting.
Bathan is among 43 farmers
from barangay Lucban in Balayan,
Batangas who have enrolled
their farms in the governments
Sugarcane Convergence Program,
or simply, sugar block farming.
Bathans 2-ha land, divided
into several plots, has enjoyed a
25-percent increase in yield since
the program was launched in the
area last year. His 6,000-sq.m.
plot, which usually yields 30 tons
of sugarcane per harvest, yielded
37 tons this season, he said.
A soil analysis was
conducted and the farmers were
taught the correct practice in
sugarcane farming, Elvin Mirasol,
the municipal agrarian reform
officer of Balayan, said as hired
workers hauled the seasons
harvest onto a truck given by the
Department of Agrarian Reform
for use of the program enrollees.
Of the 43 farmers in the
program, 31 are agrarian reform
beneficiaries who are members
of the Lucban Multi-Purpose
Cooperative (LMPC). Through
the cooperative, which manages
the collective farming program, farmers
can get their farm input for a much lower
price and take out loans to pay for these
without interest.
If the farmers get a loan directly
from Landbank (for the farm input), they
have to pay 9.8 percent interest. If the
cooperative buys the input for them, they
dont pay any interest to the cooperative.
Its the cooperative that pays interest to
Landbank, Mirasol explained.
Maria Teresa Mayuga, whose parents,
grandparents and six siblings, have tilled
the familys small sugarcane farms for
decades, says she was often forced
to get a loan because she didnt have
enough money for fertilizers whenever
planting season came.
A hectare of sugarcane farm requires
at least 20 bags of fertilizers, which alone
would cost her at least P5,000, a big
amount for a farmer relying on a crop that
is harvested only once a year.
Life was hard then, so I was always
borrowing money, she said. Now, as part
of a block farm, she can expect lower
cost and better yield every year.
The Sugarcane Convergence
Program, a joint endeavor by the DAR,
Department of Agriculture and Sugar
Regulatory Administration, seeks to
consolidate farms smaller than 10 has.
and within a 2-km radius of one another,
to come up an aggregate area of at least
30 has. for plantation-scale farming.
This scheme is now being
implemented in 12 sugar-producing
provinces: Albay, Batangas, Pampanga
and Tarlac in Luzon; Antique, Capiz, Iloilo,
Leyte, Negros Occidental and Negros
Oriental in the Visayas; and Bukidnon and
Davao del Sur in Mindanao.
The government will put in P41
million worth of investments for 29 new
block farms being eyed this year.
In barangay Lucban, the farms of
the 43 enrollees have formed a total
area of 35 has. Other areas in Batangas
like Tuy, Lian and Nasugbu have also
adopted sugar block farming. These
areas have been given dump trucks that
can carry up to 12 tons of sugarcane
and tractors for land preparation.
Besides increased productivity of
60 tons to 75 tons of sugarcane per
hectare, another goal of the program
is to bring down the cost of production
from P1,100 to P900 per LKg (1 LKg = a
50-kilo bag of sugar).
We used to pay P800/bag of
fertilizer, but now we only get it for
P565/bag, said Melanie Cabral,
program manager in barangay Lucban
and beneficiary of a 5,000-sq.m.
sugarcane farm.
She has been in sugarcane farming
since she was young, as have all the
farm owners, but it was only during
a training session with agricultural
experts that she learned the proper and
most efficient way to plant sugarcane.
Instead of leaving a foot of space
between canes, she and the other
farmers were taught to use the kadena
(chain) system, which gave them more
space for planting.
While the results have been
promising so far, convincing other
farmers to enroll in sugar block farming
remains a challenge.
Some think they would have a
new master and they would become
mere farm hands again, Cabral said
of the sentiments of other farmers not
involved in sugar block farming.
But those who have loved and not
lost in the new scheme know better:
the sour doubts will soon be lost in the
sweetness of the next harvest.
The sweetness of
shared success
BY BLANCHE R. FERNANDEZ
Men get the land ready for the next planting
season. (OPPOSITE) A worker carries the last
batch of harvest from a sugar block farm in
Balayan, Batangas. Photos: DAR
LIFE WAS HARD THEN,
SO I WAS ALWAYS
BORROWING MONEY,
SHE SAID. NOW, AS PART
OF A BLOCK FARM, SHE
CAN EXPECT LOWER
COST AND BETTER YIELD
EVERY YEAR.
Sugar Stats
Crop year 2012/13
RAW SUGAR PRODUCTION (MT)
2,434,000
SUGARCANE MILLED (MT)
25,000,000
TOTAL AREA PLANTED (HAS)
423,492
Crop year 2011/12
RAW SUGAR PRODUCTION (MT)
2,240,000
SUGARCANE MILLED (MT)
24,300,000
TOTAL AREA PLANTED (HAS)
420,752
Source: Sugar Regulatory Administration
agrarian reform matters 06 07 I S S U E N O . 3 | M A R - A P R 2 0 1 3
P O L I C Y I S S U E
re you from Luisita?
There was a time, 20-30
years ago, when answering
yes to that question triggered
the envy of outsiders, said 54-year-old
Dan Pineda, who, like his grandfather,
father and their siblings, has worked on
the vast sugarcane plantation in Tarlac
owned by the Cojuangcos, relatives of
President Benigno Aquino III.
We used to have a good life here.
Everyone had work, even if we were not
professionals. We had great benefits,
recalled Pineda, citing free transportation
for their children who went to school in
Tarlac, free medical treatment for their
families, free medicines and a lot of man-
days at the plantation.
Nobody paid attention to the land
before because we were happy with
what we got. Now we dont have work
the land is our last card, Pineda said, a
little wistful.
Following the Supreme Court
order mandating the distribution of the
4,915-ha Hacienda Luisita to its farmers
last year, the Department of Agrarian
Reform came up with the final list of
beneficiaries in February.
Huge tarpaulins with the names of
the 6,212 former farm workers and their
heirs now hang in barangay halls and
other public areas of the 10 barangays
comprising Hacienda Luisita.
In March, around 20 field facilitators
were deployed to educate the farmers
on the next steps of the land distribution
process. The facilitators discussed the
option of requesting adjacent lots, usually
among family members, so they can do
block farming. Those who wanted to avail
of this option were given manifestation
forms to sign and have notarized.
Given the estimated net distributable
area of Hacienda Luisita, each of the
beneficiaries will receive around 6,000
square meters or .6 ha. At that size,
sugarcane is not deemed a profitable crop
for farmers.
Sugarcane has a break-even point.
If you only have .6 ha, you will not profit
from it. It should be at least 3 has., said
Emmanuel Aguinaldo, DAR provincial
officer in Tarlac.
This is why the government has
launched the sugar block farming program
among beneficiaries of sugarcane
plantations. It is investing P41 million this
year for program participants all over the
country, including Tarlac.
Agrarian Reform Assistant Secretary
Teofilo Inocencio, who spent many
years with the DAR in Tarlac, said that
block farming would also discourage the
new farmer-owners from turning their
agricultural lots into residential areas.
We want to prevent that, which is
why we encourage them to get adjacent
When land is the last hope
BY BLANCHE R. FERNANDEZ
A
lots and purposely make these
productive, Inocencio said.
If you will plant sugarcane, you
really cant do it on just 6,000 square
meters. But if there are 10, 20 of you,
then thats good. The bigger, the better.
This is plantation type, he said.
The DARs field facilitators are also
tasked to explain to the beneficiaries
that they are required to pay for the
land that they will receive from the
government, according to Section 26
of R.A. 6657 or the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Law of 1988:
Lands awarded pursuant to
this Act shall be paid for by the
beneficiaries to the LBP in thirty (30)
annual amortizations at six percent
(6%) interest per annum. The payments
for the first three (3) years after the
award may be at reduced amounts as
established by the PARC.
Many farmers are being led to
believe that the land is free, or that
beneficiaries in other landholdings were
not mandated to pay for their land, DAR
officials said. In fact, some tarpaulins
with the list of Luisita beneficiaries in
the barangays have been taken down by
unknown individuals.
Vicente Joaquin, agrarian reform
officer in Tarlac City who initially went
house to house with field facilitators, said
the farmers questions were the same:
when can they get the land, how much
will they have to pay, and will they still
get their share of the disputed P1.3 billion
revenue (by the owner, Hacienda Luisita
Inc.) from the converted areas.
The CAR Law of 1988 gives agrarian
reform beneficiaries 30 years to pay for
their land through the Landbank of the
Philippines, at rates that will not exceed
five percent of the beneficiaries annual
gross production in the first five years
after they receive their land.
Should the scheduled annual
payments after the fifth year exceed
ten percent (10) of the annual gross
production and the failure to produce
accordingly is not due to the beneficiarys
fault, the LBP may reduce the interest rate
or reduce the principal obligation to make
the payment affordable, the law states.
The DAR office in Tarlac has prepared
the Application for Purchase and Farmers
Undertaking (APFU) form to be signed by
the farmers when the land is distributed
to them. The APFU is the farmers
acknowledgment of his responsibility to
pay for the land he will receive and his
commitment to abide by the provisions of
the CAR Law.
Farmers who fail to pay three years
of amortization will forfeit their land to the
DAR and will no longer be eligible to be a
beneficiary again. The forfeited land may
be distributed to other beneficiaries.
Every beneficiary must sign the
APFU. They need to do this. This will be
attached to the claims folder, Inocencio
said. We need the personal appearance
of the farmer-beneficiary to sign.
Even Agrarian Reform Secretary
Virgilio de los Reyes, in media interviews,
has asked the Luisita farmers to cooperate
with the government and sign the APFU,
Timeline
which some hostile groups are using to
scare farmers into thinking that they will
lose the land eventually.
I am appealing to the 6,212 farmer-
beneficiaries for Hacienda Luisita to
sign the documents so that we can
proceed with the land distribution
process. If they will refuse to sign
the documents, then we will have no
choice but to remove them from the list
of qualified beneficiaries, de los Reyes
said in media reports.
The field facilitators in Tarlac also
distributed blank Special Power of
Attorney forms to the heirs of deceased
beneficiaries. The heirs must decide
among themselves and appoint a
representative who will sign the APFU
and receive the land title for them.
When the manifestations and
SPAs are completed, the DAR will start
allocating the land, or whatever is left
of the original 4,915 has. after the area
aggregate covered by roads, irrigation
canals, residences and commercial
conversion is removed.
We will see to it that there is equal
opportunity. Were looking at raffling
off contested lots, Inocencio said,
anticipating the clamor for the best
parts of Hacienda Luisita.
The DAR said that some areas
have more beneficiaries than land
while some have more land than
beneficiaries. Definitely, some
beneficiaries are bound to be unhappy
with what they will get.
Raffling off contested lots in
the presence of the petitioners and
representatives of Hacienda Luisita
Inc., DAR, and non-government
organizations is the only solution seen
at the moment to ensure that the
process is fair. The whole affair would
be documented on video.
This is not a normal case. We
will streamline the process. Its still
the same steps done within a shorter
period because this is the order of the
Supreme Court, Inocencio said.
Thats exactly what farmers like
Pineda are hoping fora fresh start,
and soon.
We can never bring back the good,
old days, but at least we can have
land. Well be happy with that. Theres
nothing else that we can count on right
now, he said.
And as new landowners, only they
will determine whether Hacienda Luisita
will be an enviable address again.
Asturia
Balete
Bantog
Cutcut
Lourdes
Mabilog
Breakdown of
Beneficiaries,
by Barangay
442
739
437
646
586
637
810
669
602
641
3
2012
Supreme Court orders
with nality the acquisition
and distribution of
Hacienda Luisita.
APR
2013
FEB
2013
MAR
2013
APR
DAR releases
nal list of 6,212
beneciaries.
Field facilitators sent
out to the 10 barangays
to educate farmers on
land ownership.
Application to Purchase
and Farmers Undertaking is
explained to beneciaries.
It must be signed before they
can get their land.
2013
MAY
2013
JUN
Hacienda Luisita
is subdivided and
allocated.
Certicate of Land
Ownership Awards
are given to farmers.
Government
rolls out support
services for
beneciaries.
LANDS AWARDED PURSUANT TO THIS ACT SHALL BE PAID FOR
BY THE BENEFICIARIES TO THE LBP IN THIRTY (30) ANNUAL
AMORTIZATIONS AT SIX PERCENT (6%) INTEREST PER ANNUM.
THE PAYMENTS FOR THE FIRST THREE (3) YEARS AFTER THE AWARD
MAY BE AT REDUCED AMOUNTS AS ESTABLISHED BY THE PARC.
Private contractor F.F.
Cruz conducts survey to
determine Luisitas net
distributable area.
Mapalacsiao
Motrico
Pando
Parang
Others
Dan Pineda, beneciary
from barangay Lourdes
agrarian reform matters 08 09 I S S U E N O . 3 | M A R - A P R 2 0 1 3
S U C C E S S S T O R Y
The popularity of tablea
made from Davaos cacao
promises bigger prot for
farmers. (OPPOSITE, FROM
LEFT) Davaos weather is ideal
for growing cacao; Sun-dried
cacao beans fetch a better
market price than oven-
dried beans; The beans are
examined to see if they are
ready for the market. Photos:
Courtesy of DAR-Davao
A small group of farmers from Davao
Oriental may have finally struck gold
in their cacao beans.
After about 10 years of tilling their
land and selling raw cacao beans,
members of the Mayo Agrarian
Reform Beneficiaries Cooperative
(MAGREBCO) recently decided to
try their hand at processing tablea or
cacao tabletsand quickly realized
this was their ticket to sweet earnings
from those dark crops.
In March, we sold our first tablea
order to Jollibee Foundation, said
Joie Nugas, chairman of the board
of MAGREBCO. We want to sustain
the making of tablea so that we can
involve the wives of our members in
the process, and they can earn extra
for their needs.
Its not just the giant Filipino
fastfood chain that has been knocking
on the doors of the cooperative for
their tablea.
Cooperative manager Boy
Galon shared that a visitor from
Missouri, U.S.A. once came over
to MAGREBCOs office and bought
samples of dried cacao beans, which
he processed into chocolate. The
American said he was impressed
by MAGREBCOs product because
it contained 75 percent cacao. The
beans he bought from Ecuador had
only 65 percent cacao, he said.
While the supply of raw materials
is not an issue, Nugas said that the
cooperative needed training and
equipment to be able to meet the
demand for cacao tablets. He said
that the cooperative had to turn
down offers for them to supply other
groups because MAGREBCO would not
be able to produce the volume that
is needed.
We have a lot of orders, but we lack
the equipment and training so we can
meet their orders, he said.
With the help of the Department of
Agrarian Reform and the Department
of Trade and Industry, MAGREBCO
members attended seminars to help them
run their cooperative better. Today, the
group continues to seek trainings so their
products can penetrate and dominate the
tablea market.
In the past three years, MAGREBCO
has produced around 1,000 packs of
tablea, each containing five tablets, which
the cooperative sold on a per-order basis.
A pack retails for P50. The tableas are a
big hit in local bakeshops in Mati.
The cooperative is anticipating an
increase in demand for cacao tablets as
eight different groups have expressed
interest in getting their tablea requirement
from MAGREBCO, Galon said.
MAGREBCO farmers are tilling an
aggregate 616-ha land they received
under the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Program. The landholding was
previously owned by the Hacienda Mayo
Inc. until the government acquired and
distributed it to farmer in 2003.
Nugas recalled that the owners were
very cordial with the beneficiaries. When
the land was distributed to them, it was
peaceful and everyone was very, very
happy. He said he has since sent his five
kids to college, and hes still enjoying
farm work.
Aside from cacao trees, the
cooperative grows banana and coconut
in the plantation but MAGREBCOs main
BY MIKO MORELOS
produce is still cacao because these
fetch a better price than other crops.
A kilo of dry cacao beans used to
sell for around P90 to P100, but the
price has since dropped to P65 per kilo.
We couldnt negotiate for a better
price because buyers would quickly
go to (other sellers) if we dont agree
to their price. Thats why we want to
produce tablea because it will fare
better in the market, Nugas said.
The summer months are usually
the harvest season of cacao, and each
farmer can have a yield of 50 kilos every
week. In lean months, farmers harvest
around 30 kilos every two weeks to
allow the trees to grow beans just right.
Cacao growers can sell the beans
right away after harvest, but cacao sells
higher when its dried.It takes about
three days for the beans to dry well
in the sun and about 12 hours using
an indoor dryer, according to Nugas.
While sun-drying may take more time, it
requires less capital and labor.
MAGREBCO farmers have no
problem sun-drying beans. It took them
10 years to make a hit tableaa few
days in the sun wont hurt if the end
product can be turned to gold.
WE WANT TO SUSTAIN THE
MAKING OF TABLEA SO
THAT WE CAN INVOLVE THE
WIVES OF OUR MEMBERS
IN THE PROCESS AND THEY
CAN EARN EXTRA FOR
THEIR NEEDS.
agrarian reform matters 10 11 I S S U E N O . 3 | M A R - A P R 2 0 1 3
THE MIND MUSEUM AT TAGUIG
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City
Education and cool dont usually go hand in hand but The Mind Museum continues to change this from the moment it opened
its doors in the summer of 2012. The first world-class science museum in the Philippines is a P1-billion project built purely from
private donations that took five years to raise. The museum, housed in a space age-designed building, has five galleries and 250
interactive exhibits that you can engage with the help of the Mind Movers, the museums resident scientists. The museum also has a
permanent T-Rex exhibit and two outdoor parks highlighting flora and the elements. www.themindmuseum.org
This T-Rex skeleton copy is a big
attraction at The Mind Museum.
Photo by Ram Lee
F E A T U R E S
Art is Where
You Find It
RHOEL FERNANDEZ
STUMBLES ON PLACES
POSSESSED BY ART AND
ODDNESS.
Eat Log:
THEO & PHILO
+63 920 4315650,
hello@theoandphilo.com
How does a Filipino-Chinese
computer programmer end up
making world-class chocolates?
Philo Chua was in the IT industry
in the U.S.A. for five years when
he came upon the single origin
chocolate concept (the cacao
comes from only one region).
He noticed that the high-end
European and American makers
sourced their chocolate from
tropical countries, like the
Philippines. But there were no
such single-origin chocolates
being produced in his country.
There was nothing in the
Philippines and I knowwe have the
cacao here. Thats when I decided
to come back and start this up,
said the Carnegie Mellon graduate.
Thus was born Theo & Philo
Artisan Chocolates, a bean-to-bar
maker of single-origin Philippine
chocolates. A loyal fanbase has
embraced flavors such as Labuyo,
Calamansi, Barako and Green
Mango and Salt.
www.theoandphilo.com
Surf Board:
MUNI
If you happen to wake up one
day and decide you want to
make the world a better place,
then drop by this website. Run
by a passionate group of young
cultural creatives, Muni features
a host of advocacies that run the
gamut of eco-friendly consumer
goods, health and wellness, ethnic
embroidery, and other local art and
design. Its Filipino positivity with
a mission statement. Muni sells
not just products but the principle
behind social enterprise
www.muni.com.ph
UKULELE PHILIPPINES
7274 Malugay St. San Antonio
Village, Makati City
Ukulele Philippines is one of the
endearing establishments at The
Collective, a gathering of quirky
retail stores with a non-conformist
streak. The Philippines first and
only all-ukulele shop has a wide
selection of imported and branded
ukes plus accessories. The shop
is an art show in itself but the real
draw is the shared interest that
brings folks together, with jam
sessions lasting until dawn. The
store encourages people to play
the ukuleles on display. Free basic
lessons and workshops are offered.
www.ukulelephilippines.com
PUZZLE MANSION
BED & BREAKFAST
Purok 4 Cuadra
St. Brgy. Asisan, Tagaytay City
The Puzzle Mansion Bed &
Breakfast houses the worlds
largest collection of puzzles made
by a single person. Guinness
World Record holder Gina Gil-
Lacuna intended it as a vacation
house but opened it to the public
eventually. More than a thousand
puzzles, including framed images
of Disney characters, classic
paintings and landscapes, and
elaborate 3-D puzzles of famous
landmarks such as the Taj Mahal
are on display.
www.thepuzzlemansion.com
PINTO ART GALLERY
1 Sierra Madre, Grand Heights,
Antipolo City
Whet your visual appetite by
viewing contemporary art in a
canvas provided by Mother Nature
at the Pinto Art Gallery. Built in
2001 as a storage facility, Pinto has
evolved into a venue for interesting
exhibitions of contemporary art in
a setting influenced by the pueblo
architecture of Native American
Indians. Selected paintings,
installations and sculptures done
by the countrys best visual artists
possess the space inside and out of
the gallery. The garden commands a
stroll, as well.
www.freewebs.com/pintoartgallery
DIZON RAMOS MUSEUM
Burgos Ave. near Lacson St.,
Bacolod City
Dubbed vintage, retro and oddball
by Lonely Planet, the Dizon-Ramos
Museum is a time capsule that
provides a glimpse of the upper
middle class life in the 1950s.
Inaugurated in 2007 as the first 1950
lifestyle museum in the Philippines,
the place contains religious knick-
knacks and a massive glassware
collection. The truly interesting
stuff are those that make a house a
homea dining table still prepped
for Sunday lunch, appliances from a
bygone age and cheesy family photos,
seemingly undisturbed and waiting for
the family to return. D
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C O N T I N U E D F R O M C O V E R
These hauling truck and tractor (below)
were given to the Lucban Multi-Purpose
Cooperative in Batangas for use of the
sugarcane farmers. Photos: DAR-PAS
Worse, more than half of them are poor.
According to government data, 52
percent of ARB households below the 2009
poverty threshold, which is P16,841 annual
per capita income or P101,046 for a family of
six. The situation is worst in Central Visayas
(comprising Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental and
Siquijor) where 71 percent of ARBs are living
below the poverty line.
Among ARBs, income from the farm
account for an average of 41 percent of total
household income. This is why agri-extension
is crucial to improving the income of farmers.
Agri-extension is market-oriented. It does
not look at production only but the types of
crops that have market potential. This is what
we are studying Right now, farmers are still
not focused on economies of scale, Pacturan
said.
ARBs must be organized to
benefit from the ARCCESS
because the services are
funneled through ARB
organizations, which will
cascade the services
to the farmers. ARB
groups who need any
of the services under
the ARCCESS can apply
through the DAR provincial
offices. Their needs will
be assessed and, when
approved, the progress of their
project would be monitored and
evaluated by partner State universities and
colleges.
HAND-HOLDING
Since the ARCCESS was rolled out last year,
233 projects have been approved. Another
255 proposed projects are being assessed
right now.
One of the recipient ARB organizations in
Isabela, the North Siffu Farmers Multi-Purpose
Cooperative, has already reported an income
of P50,000 from the combine harvester
machine it received under the ARCCESS.
This is training and hand-holding, not go
in, go out. Part of the package is to develop
field schools and train ARBs to be farmer-
technicians, Pacturan said.
Were ending the land acquisition
and distribution, and so were also doing a
lot of work as far as support services are
concerned, which for the longest time has not
been done by DAR, he said, quite candidly.
He cited the streamlining of the loan
process for ARB organizations who are
no longer required to present three years
financial statements and business track
record. Those who pay their loans on time will
also get an incentive: instead of the 8-percent
interest, they will only pay 6 percent.
This is possible through the Agrarian
Production Credit Program, a partnership
between the DAR, Department of Agriculture,
which put in the P2-billion credit fund, and the
Landbank of the Philippines.
Another government agency thats
boosting support services is the
Philippine Crop Insurance Corp.,
which now has P1 billion in
insurance budget for ARBs.
One good thing thats
happening in government
under this administration is that
agencies are working together
to provide the necessary
services. For example, the law
says DAR should provide credit
but the mandate for credit is not
with DAR, it is really with DA. So
this money we allocated for Landbank is
actually DAs, Pacturan said.
Will P5 billion be enough to convince
farmers to keep their lands and treat it as
social capital? Can money for support services
finally change the landscape in land reform?
The 2008 World Development Report on
Agriculture found that for the poorest people,
gross domestic product growth originating from
agriculture is four times more effective in reducing
poverty than GDP growth from other sectors.
That growth may not come from
Hacienda Luisita, which is not even in the
hands of farmers yet, but its bound to come
from somewhere. After all, P5 billion cannot
be kept a secret for long.
agrarian reform matters 12
V O I C E S F R O M T H E F I E L D
Emmanuel Aguinaldo
Provincial Officer 2, Tarlac
He emerges from his office and lights a cigarette.
By the ease with which he conducts himself, you
wouldnt think Paro Manny were given the Herculean
task of supervising the distribution of one of the
Philippines largest sugarcane plantations, owned
by no less than the relatives of President Benigno
Aquino III.
He talks about the 4,915-ha Hacienda Luisita like it
was just another project in his 24-year stint with the
Department of Agrarian Reform. By all accounts, Paro
Manny works like the civil engineer that he iswith
a calculated preciseness and an unadulterated sense
of reality. He discusses the dangers of freedom, the
difficult situation on the field, the challenges that
will face DAR and the farmers when the Cojuangcos
sugar land is finally given to its farm workers. But like
the agrarian reform veteran that he is, he also knows
that the only way to grow anything is to plant seeds,
no matter how tough the ground.
Photos: DAR-Tarlac
TIME IN TARLAC is time well spent
with family and friends.

THE MEASURE OF SUCCESS IN
AGRARIAN REFORM is whether
we created beneficiaries or victims
out of tenant-farmers.
REAL CHANGE comes from within.
IF CARP WERE A BOOK it will
be like Dan Browns novels:
controversial and popular at the
same time.
WOMEN FARMERS DESERVE
equal opportunities as men.

THE MOVIE THAT REMINDS ME
OF MY LIFE IS Kingdom of Heaven.
WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS
NOW is more spirituality and
less materialism.
IF MY WORK-RELATED STRESS
HAD A PRICE TAG, it would
say free.

PEOPLE WHO DONT BELIEVE
IN GOVERNMENT need to go to
DAR-Tarlac and see for themselves
how the government works.

SUNRISE OR SUNSET? Sunset,
hands down. Im an owl, not
a lark.