Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III addresses employees (Courtesy of DAR)
MANILA – The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) will fill up unfilled positions that include coterminous posts in order to strengthen its support programs.
Secretary Conrado Estrella III confirmed on Tuesday that DAR is finalizing vacant posts for hiring.
“So far, 312 vacant coterminous positions are being finalized before opening them for hiring. Once filled up, the successful applicants will be deployed in the rural areas where they are needed the most to share their expertise in boosting agricultural productivity as envisioned by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.,” Estrella said in a statement.
The DAR has requested the Department of Budget and Management for the creation of 96 Agrarian Reform Program Officers I (ARPO I) posts and the upgrading of 344 Agrarian Reform Program Technologists (ARPT) positions to ARPO I.
He said the approval of said posts would enable DAR to strengthen its support for agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) and hasten the implementation of the land acquisition and distribution program.
“The move is intended to beef up the agency’s development facilitators, who are made up of ARPTs, whose upgrading into ARPOs 1 is meant to motivate them to give their all in helping the ARBs attain greater farm productivity,” Estrella said.
DAR is strengthening its rural development campaign, thus, the reinforcement of its support services staff and development facilitators who will serve as its frontliners in catering to the needs of ARBs and agrarian reform beneficiary organizations.
Marcos had pledged to take all initiatives that would help transform the Philippines into a leading agricultural resource hub, stressing the importance of accelerating efforts to improve the country’s agricultural sector.
"The work to improve our agricultural sector and improve the plight of our farmers and fisherfolk has only just begun. We need to continue to open more opportunities to improve their well-being. We are presently only playing catch up," Marcos said during the Agrilink/Foodlink/Aqualink 2022 event held at World Trade Center in Pasay City on October 6.
Estrella said providing the much-needed support services to farmer-beneficiaries would help them increase their harvests, augment their income, and spur rural development.
He said there are only about a hundred thousand hectares of “workable” private agricultural lands that are up for distribution in areas under its jurisdiction.
“Workable private farmlands refer to those with no legal impediment, with the landowners having already expressed their willingness to work with the DAR for the acquisition and redistribution of their properties to the landless farmers” Estrella said.
Based on DAR data, there are still about 500 thousand hectares that are up for distribution nationwide.
However, 300 thousand hectares are classified as problematic with various courts proceedings and the other 100 thousand hectares are being handled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform, the regional executive department under the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. (PNA)
