’Personalities, pols’ buy or rent govt-awarded land

TARLAC CITY, Tarlac: Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano has revealed that majority of agrarian reform beneficiaries have either sold, mortgaged or leased the lots awarded to them despite a 10-year ban on such move under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

The “[a]warded lands were not in their possession,” Mariano said, noting that among those who bought or rented their lots mentioned in the validation report were “influential personalities and local politicians.”