President Benigno Aquino III has approved the allocation of P300 million for loans to agrarian reform beneficiary (ARB) groups in Negros Occidental for 2012, to be made available through the Land Bank of the Philippines, Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio delos Reyes said yesterday.

This is on top of support services and other programs being undertaken by the national government to boost productivity and incomes of ARBs in the province, Delos Reyes told participants to the “Children of the Canes III” national conference at L'Fisher Hotel in Bacolod City.

He said poverty drives children in the sugar industry to work, and increased farm incomes will help eliminate the problem.

Delos Reyes and Sugar Regulatory Administrator Ma. Regina Bautista Martin, who also spoke at the conference, said the DAR, SRA and the Department of Agriculture are pushing for the establishment of block farms composed of ARBs and small farmers' landholdings of 10 hectares and less.

Consolidation of small farms into a minimum block farm of 30-50 hectares to achieve plantation-scale production will improve the incomes of ARBs and small farmers, Delos Reyes said.

Martin said this will also ensure that the sugar industry's survival is not compromised.

Delos Reyes said 961,974 hectares are still up for Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program coverage nationwide, composed of 307,870 has. of coconut lands or 32 percent, 209,047 has. of rice or 22 percent, 140,742 has. of corn or 15 percent, 146,143 has. of sugarcane or 15 percent, and 158,172 of other crops or 16 percent.

He said of the 146,143 has. of sugar lands up for CARP coverage, 120,000 has. are in Negros Occidental.

The DAR aims to have all land above 10 hectares covered by CARP by end of 2014, he said.

Delos Reyes said his message for the landowners of Negros is simple: “We will follow the law and make sure that due process is followed.”

He is hoping that there will be a lot more landowners who will avail of the Voluntary Offer to Sell scheme of the DAR this year so they can avail of the increased valuation of their land because of the high prices of sugar last year, Delos Reyes added.

“We are going to make sure that land valuation is transparent and quick,” he said, pointing out that more adjudicators are being assigned to Negros Occidental.

Delos Reyes also said that the joint DAR-Land Registration Authority Memorandum Circular No. 17, Series of 2011, that provides for the annotation of titles of property up for CARP coverage, is not a confiscatory move.

It is simply a notice that the land is up for coverage, a landowner can always file a protest with the DAR to question it, he added.

This is being done because notices for CARP coverage sent to landowners in the past have practically been ignored, Delos Reyes said.

He also said if the Negros Occidental provincial government is opposing the CARP coverage of 50-hectares of its Negros First Ranch in Murcia, it can always file a protest with the DAR.

Meanwhile, he said the DAR targets the completion of the distribution of Hacienda Luisita land in Tarlac to the beneficiaries by next year.

Sr. Maria Victoria Sta. Ana, Laura Vicuña Foundation executive director, said they held the “Children of the Canes” conference that ended yesterday to redefine social responsibility in sugarcane-growing communities and map-out what the planters, local government units, workers, media, nongovernment organizations, civil society and the youth can do together for the protection and development of children.

Western Visayas has the third highest number of child laborers in the Philippines, a National Statistics Office 2011 report shows.* CPG

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