Philippines: Long-delayed Supreme Court decision deprives landless peasants’ access to land, Tanjay City, Negros Oriental

In 1996, 200 landless peasants were identified as beneficiaries for 393 hectares of land owned by former Senator Rene Espina. Not only has the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) failed to install these peasants onto the said landholding till today, in 2005, the Court of Appeals  decided against the coverage of the land under the national agrarian reform program. The Supreme Court is yet to decide whether or not to reverse the earlier decision by the Court of Appeals. Without access to land, the peasants’ families are deprived of food, while some families were forced to migrate to cities in search for employment opportunities.