PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan -- The local agrarian reform office here said Thursday it is nearing the completion of distribution of an estimated 62,140 hectares of land under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
Fedeleo de Guzman, Agrarian Reform Officer 1 of Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR)-Palawan, said as of December 21, 2017, they had distributed 57,720 hectares of CARP land since it started in 1998.
He said the remaining 4,420 hectares are still being processed due to some issues which he failed to elaborate.
In 2017, around 76 hectares were distributed, higher than their target of only 66 hectares, he said.
The program covered a total of 35,900 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in the entire province.
Another accomplishment of their agency in 2017 was the subdivision of collective Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) into individual titles involving some 970 hectares of land with an estimated beneficiary of more than 300.
“Ito yung buong CLOA na iisa lang ang titulo, pero ngayon ay na-subdivide na ito, o nahati-hati na (This CLOA only has one title, but now, it has been subdivided),” he said.
He said that in order for an Agrarian Reform Community (ARC) to prosper, the DAR needs to work closely, and coordinate with various government agencies like the Departments of Agriculture, of Environment and Natural Resources, and of Trade and Industry, and other related agencies.
There are also infrastructure projects funded by their agency like the Agrarian Reform Communities Development Projects (ARCDP), which is implemented with the funding support of the Asian Development Bank and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, he said.
He added that there are also areas with less than 500 hectares covered and less than 300ARBs, but they are considered as part of the ARC because the areas have indigenous people, and have the high potential for eco- and agro-tourism.
Among these special ARC areas are El Nido, Bacungan in Puerto Princesa and Berong in Quezon. Palawan has 24 agrarian reform communities and three special ARCs.
De Guzman said majority of the agrarian reform beneficiaries are from Narra and Aborlan towns in southern Palawan. (PNA)
