A land conflict similar to what had happened at Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac is unlikely to occur in Oriental Negros and Central Visayas, Ester Nadela, chief of the legal assistance division of the regional office of the Department of Agrarian Reform, said yesterday.

Landowners in the region have no stock distribution option with farm workers unlike that of the Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita, Nadela said.

In Oriental Negros, Cebu, and Bohol, she said, landowners and farmers are "more civil".

Nadela said aggrieved parties go to court to seek redress instead of resorting to violence.

She noted that as of August last year, the DAR adjudication board has decided on 104 cases.

"If the aggrieved parties still feel dissatisfied with the decision of the office, they can still go to the Court of Appeals and then to the Supreme Court," the DAR legal aide said. Meanwhile, the DAR office in Oriental Negros is continuing to evaluate government-owned lots for distribution to more farmer-beneficiaries.

Aileen Alaban of the DAR provincial office said since January to November last year, her office has distributed more than 1,593 hectares of government-owned lots to 2,074 farmer-beneficiaries from Basay to Canlaon City.*

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