The Department of Agrarian Reform distributed Certificates of Land Ownership Awards to 359 Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries from five cities and five towns in northern Negros Occidental at its office yesterday.

Teresita Mabunay, Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer for northern Negros Occidental said the distribution is part of DAR’s 26th Anniversary celebration on the theme “Kabuhayan at Kaunlaran sa Sariling Lupa (Livelihood and Development through own land)”.

Mabunay said the recipient farmers are from the cities of Escalante, Sagay, Cadiz, Victorias, and Silay and from the towns of Toboso, Calatrava, Manapla, E.B. Magalona and Don Salvador Benedicto.

She said seven farmers organizations from Escalante, Cadiz and Silay cities and E.B. Magalona town received certificates of recognition for their integrated implementation of Land Tenure Improvement and Program Beneficiaries Development and Agrarian Production Credit Program.

Mabunay added that five other farmer groups with a total of 193 members received credit support programs amounting to P17 million.

DAR records show that the agency fell short of its target of 4,000 hectares of land to be distributed to Agrarian reform Beneficiaries in Negros Occidental for the first six months of the year.

In northern Negros Occidental, only 1,453 hectares out of the 2,000 hectares target for distribution in the first six months of the year were distributed.
 Mabunay said they are exerting all efforts to attain their targets. Their game plan is to fast-track the processing and documentation of beneficiaries’ claim folders, she said.

She admitted, however, that they are facing a lot of impediments in the implementation of CARP, one of them the technical problems during the survey of a lands being eyed for CAR. Another is the resistance of the land owners who file petitions so their land will be exempted from CARP coverage.

Despite that, she said DAR, will continue to fulfill its mandate even though the budgetary requirement for the acquisition of lands was stopped on June 30.*APN

back to top