President Benigno Aquino III said yesterday that he will sign into law a bill that will allow the issuance of notices of coverage for the remaining properties identified by the Department of Agrarian Reform for the completion of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

Aquino said he met with members of Congress belonging to the Visayan Bloc, specifically citing Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3 rd District), on the matter and, said “We wound up that meeting all with smiles on our faces, it looked like there was no dissension as to what the objective is”.

The problem starts with the issue of incomplete cadastral surveys, where there are titles that are lacking, he said. “The titles are a necessary component for giving the NOC (notice of coverage). Bottom line, because of this and other problems, the issuance of notices of coverage was not completed,” he said.

“So, the agreement was to grant an extension of time to complete the process of giving these NOCs so there will be no more extension in terms of getting more hectarage into the program. So with that understanding, we understand that there is no more objection coming from Congress except for those who are against CARP to begin with, who want a different thing altogether,” he said.

Aquino said he has the assurance of the support of the Visayan bloc already and is waiting for the bill to be enrolled so he can sign it into law and finish the process of agrarian reform, that was one of the flagship projects of his mother.*CPG

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