Senator Santiago to DAR “Get the Binay Land in Bantangas and give it out to Farmers

Finally the lady Philippine Senator Defensor Santiago wants the Philippine government to acquire the alleged property land of Vice President Binay in Batangas.

Sen. Santiago told it on a press conference that by early next week, she will be filing resolution expressing sense of Senate that Department of Agrarian Reform should get hold of the land and distribute the said Batangas property that is subject of hearings.

Sen. Santiago also emphasized that as of now "we do not know who really owns it."

She also noted that former Makati vice Mayor claimed that VP—Binay owns it while VP—Binay claims that it is owned by a businessman named Antonio Tiu.

Mr. Tiu said that he bought the said property from Mr. Gregorio. He earlier then showed un—notarized 1—page agreement between Tiu and Mr. Gregorio.

Senator Santiago former agrarian reform secretary, said that her "eyebrows rose up to her hairline" when she have heard the land since under Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, all the big landholdings of agricultural land should be acquired and distributed by the government.

And also in separate statement, the lady senator said that, "Whether hacienda is a 145 or 350 hectares, it is already in violation of the stated agrarian reform law, which limits the land ownership to only a five hectares.

"Legality of existence of hacienda which, by definition, a huge tract of land, deeply suspicious, and may involved crimes of falsification of the public documents, and illegal conversion of the agricultural land," Santiago added.

Every land owner may only have up to3 hectares Sen. Santiago also notes from experience, that land owners connive with the DAR officials to convert land from agricultural land so it can be immediately taken out of coverage of Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.