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DARAB commended for high case resolution rate

02/21/2010

The Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board (DARAB) exceeded the expectations of many when it resolved last year a total of 24,672 out of the 33,550 agrarian cases for a high 145-percent resolution rate, DAR Secretary Nasser Pangandaman said last Wednesday.

Pangandaman said the number of cases resolved by DARAB in 2009 is 7,365 cases more than its target of 17,037. It also eclipsed its 2008 record of 23,314 cases resolved, by 1,358 cases.

Pangandaman also announced that his office extended legal assistance to a total of 72,491 cases, resulting to the settlement of 67,786 cases.

“This is a very positive indication that we are very much on track in our bid for zero-backlog in agrarian cases within five years,” Pangandaman said.

The DAR chief said he expects to chip away little by little from the 8,878 pending cases at DARAB until his office accomplishes a zero balance by the end of 2014.

Earlier, Pangandaman had directed the DARAB and the Legal Affairs Office to simplify and shorten legal proceedings by doing away with unnecessary steps that only contribute to the delay in the resolution of cases.

“We’ve got to hasten the resolution of cases, some of them are potential powder keg. But, in so doing, we should also exercise caution to preserve the integrity of our decisions,” he stressed. He listed as top priority the aged cases or the so-called “Monalisa” — “they lie there and just die there,” alluding to lyrics in a Nat King Cole song.

Pangandaman added that priority should also be given to land acquisition and distribution-related cases, flashpoint and cases involving bigger hectarage in the disposition and resolution of cases.

He also urged DARAB and the Legal Affairs Office to link arms with the Field Operations Office, ensuring that their staff are constantly interacting with each other through problem-solving workshops to determine as early as possible potential legal problems.

The DAR chief said his office is exploring various legal measures aimed at speeding up the delivery of agrarian justice in a bid to attain an ambitious zero-backlog within the duration of the agrarian reform program’s five-year extension period.

One legal strategy that works well and pleases him, he said, is the classification of cases according to their age where older cases get the highest priority.

He, however, cautioned them to ensure the adaptability and flexibility of all legal measures being considered, especially in cases that are as complex as those flashpoint cases in Negros Occidental and other highly volatile areas.

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