MANILA – The Department of Agrarian Reform has targeted the coverage of 961,974 hectares nationwide under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms before the law expires in 2014.

Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes said yesterday that the issuance of Notice of Coverage will ensure that all landholdings covered by CARP will be distributed to qualified farmer-beneficiaries before the term of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III ends in 2016.

From February to May 2012, De los Reyes said, the DAR mass processed "claims folders" in all provinces with significant land acquisition and distribution balance especially the 21 provinces where more than 60 percent of the LAD balance is located.

These "claim folder days" enabled the DAR management to analyze individual landholdings targeted for acquisition in order to track its progress and address problems, he said.

This will also enable the DAR to institute global solutions to problems delaying the LAD process, he added.

De los Reyes said the mass processing of all claim folders had never been done before.

Data from these claim folder processing are being processed and will be utilized to craft specific measures to address specific types of problems.

The DAR chief explained the mass processing of claim folders will enable the Department to determine which landholdings have not yet been issued NOCs, which have been issued defective NOCs, and which have been issued NOCs but it is unclear whether it had been properly received.

For these landholdings, he said the DAR will issue or reissue NOCs.

De los Reyes noted that agrarian reform under the Aquino administration is proceeding apace despite the huge challenges facing the program.

During Aquino’s first two years of administration, he said, the DAR managed to acquire and distribute some 219,069 hectares of land throughout the country.

Though this is not exemplary, De los Reyes said, this is by no means the lowest accomplishment in the history of CARP implementation.

The lowest recorded was 59,495 hectares distributed in 2009 because of the uncertainties brought about by the transition of the new law extending funding requirement for the agrarian reform program (RA 9700 or CARPER). The second lowest was 97,795 hectares recorded in 2003.

Last year alone, DAR has distributed some 111,889 hectares of land nationwide, which is slightly higher than the 107,180 hectares distributed in 2010.

DAR has also completed the acquisition of 18,414 landholdings with a total area of 120,286 hectares for a gross accomplishment rate of 60 percent.*PNA

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