President Gloria Arroyo has directed Presidential Adviser for Western Visayas, Rafael "Lito" Coscolluela, to draft the terms of engagement between Department of Agrarian Reform and local government unit officials in the implementation of land reform.

Numerous complaints have been aired about the lack of coordination of DAR with LGUs in the implementation of land reform that has led to bloody confrontations in the past.

The DAR should coordinate with the LGUs not just in the installation of beneficiaries but in the implementation of support services, Coscolluela said.

Coscolluela said he will use as a reference Gov. Joseph Marañon's proposed memorandum of agreement on the implementation of land reform.

Last week, Marañon submitted to the Office of the President a copy of the proposed MOA made in 2003 that he said would ensure orderly and peaceful implementation of agrarian reform in Negros Occidental.

On Friday, the governor asked the Office of the President to investigate top DAR officials amid complaints of the department's Negros Occidental employees on the manner in which land reform had been implemented in some areas, that had led to violence.

Coscolluela said he will submit the proposed terms of engagement to the President through DAR Secretary Nasser Pangandaman in the next two days.

In the past, Marañon has complained about Pangandaman's failure to coordinate with local officials in the implementation of CARP especially in the controversial Hacienda Velez-Malaga in La Castellana town.*CPG

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