Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. slammed on Saturday the figures released by the Department of Agrarian Reform on the total land areas that are yet to be distributed to Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries in the province.

On Friday, DAR Secretary Virgilo De Los Reyes said that of the 500,000 to 600,000 hectares of land yet to be given to the ARBs nationwide, 120,000 to 130,000 hectares of which, or more than 21 percent, is in Negros Occidental.

De Los Reyes said that because of this backlog, he has ordered the local DAR officials to fast-track the land distribution.

He said DAR in Negros Occidental set a target of distributing 50,000 hectares of land before 2015 ends.

But Marañon said the remaining number of land yet to be distributed in Negros Occidental is less than the figures released by DAR.

He reiterated that DAR should concentrate more on giving support services to ARBs because if the agency will conduct a survey, they will know that less than 10 percent of ARBs have retained ownership of the lands provided them by the government.

Marañon added that if DAR officials would go and visit an ARB community, most farmers could hardly even buy a motorcycle or a carabao.

De Los Reyes has explained that DAR will not only concentrate on providing services, but also on distributing lands to the ARBs as it is their mandate under the law.

He said the agency has not been remiss in providing support services to the farmer beneficiaries.

In fact, De los Reyes said, the credit program of the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Department of Agriculture is between P800-P900 million, with a repayment rate of 95 percent.*APN

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