Agrarian Reform Secretary John R. Castriciones on Tuesday announced that he has decided not to run for a Senate post as he vowed to continue serving farmer-beneficiaries “at the pleasure of the President.”
At a news conference in Quezon City, Castriciones, president of the Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte for President Movement (MRRDPM), the same group that convinced Duterte, then Mayor of Davao City, for a Palace run, said he intends to continue serving the Filipino people in his capacity as DAR secretary.
While there was no formal offer for him to run for a Senate seat under the administration party or the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, Castriciones was named by President Duterte as a potential national candidate.
Castriciones said there was no formal or official offer from the President Duterte for him to run under the administration party but he said it is better for him to beg off and let other supporters of the president who wish to run for national office to take the slot.
“There are some people who really wanted to run because they wanted to support the advocacy of the President. In fact, some of us are running, the secretary of Tesda (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority), who has made the pronouncement that he will run as Governor of Lanao del Sur. What I told the President is, since it is a party decision, I would not like to run because I want to serve our farmer-beneficiaries and to make sure that our programs will be properly implemented,” he said.
According to Castriciones, he will, “at the pleasure of President Duterte” stay in the DAR and distribute the remaining land acquisition and distribution (LAD) balance of 561,000 hectares, and another 260,000 hectares of government-owned lands under Duterte’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) Phase 2.
The DAR, he said, is ready to implement President Duterte’s order to implement CARP in Boracay to indigenous peoples.
“We have identified 7.9 hectares of land which we can immediately distribute and we have already identified potential farmer-beneficiaries who are members of the ati tribe,” he said.
The DAR chief said he is hopeful that President Duterte will sign a draft Executive Order (EO) that will allow the DAR to fast track the distribution of government-owned lands to farmer-beneficiaries.
The draft EO, he said, is being reviewed by the President as some members of the Cabinet have expressed concern over the order’s possible implications to the mandate of other government agencies.
“The draft EO will hasten the distribution of government-owned lands. Apparently, there are some concerns because the distribution may eventually affect the programs of other agencies which also have their own mandate,” said Castriciones.
Also, the DAR chief said, he is determined to implement a pet housing program for farmer-beneficiaries to improve the living condition of farmers in rural areas.
“Some local government units (LGUs) have signified their willingness to donate parcels of lands for the housing program. This housing project for our farmer-beneficiaries will help improve their living condition,” he said.
Under his leadership, Castriciones said the DAR will continue to provide necessary support services to farmer-beneficiaries, including provision of farm equipment, post-harvest facilities and livelihood projects.