The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has arranged to send home 91 protesting farmers who have been staying at shacks in front of the DAR office in Quezon City for the last two months.
DAR Acting Secretary John Castriciones vowed to address the concerns raised by the protesting farmers who came all the way from provinces in Mindanao to demand for land from the Duterte administration.
In a statement, Castriciones who is also from Mindanao himself said it is time to listen to the reasons poor farmers go to the streets to ventilate their grievances and issues.
The idea to help the protesting farmers go home for Christmas was first raised by Castriciones during his first meeting with top DAR officials earlier this month.
Last week the DAR received a solicitation letter from Pedro Arnado, chairman of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas in Southern Mindanao, asking for support to farmers who wish to go home for Christmas.
The letter was addressed to Castriciones and other top officials of the agency. It was coursed through the office of Director Leomides R. Villareal of the Public Assistance and Media Relations Service. Villareal, who is also from Mindanao, is a former communications official of President Duterte when he was still mayor of Davao City.
To address the concern of the farmers, Castriciones immediately convened a team to plan out the program for the send-off.
Other agencies and the local government of Quezon City also signified their support to the send-off program for the farmers.
The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, through Deputy Director Diosdado Padilla, will also distribute scholarship certificates that will be part of the package the government will provide for the farmers while the Office of Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte of Quezon City will supply the farmers with food and boxes of bottled water for their travel.