EXPEDITING LAND DISTRIBUTION. Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III vows to expedite procedures in distributing land ownership titles to agrarian reform beneficiaries nationwide, during the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing on Thursday (April 18, 2024). Estrella said they target to distribute around 100,000 land ownership certificates this year. (Screengrab)
MANILA – The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) on Thursday said it aims to distribute at least 100,000 certificates of land ownership awards (CLOA) this year.
"Ang aming (Our) trajectory, is that by this year ay (is) 100,000 [CLOAs]; ngayon kung iyong milagrong ipinagdadasal namin, baka magawa naming (now if there's a miracle for our prayer, we can make it) 200,000," DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing.
He mentioned a recent distribution with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in Agusan del Sur, and another with Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte in Palawan, citing DAR's collaboration with other agencies for a whole-of-government approach.
"Hindi lang tungkol sa pagsasaka ang gusto niyang (President Marcos) masuportahan ang ating magsasaka, pati na ang kanilang kabuhayan, karagdagang kabuhayan, ang kalusugan at ang kinabukasan ng kanilang mga anak (Our [President] doesn't only want to support our farmers in farming, but also in their additional livelihood, health, and the future of their children)," Estrella said.
He expressed optimism in hitting the agency's optimum capacity in land distribution by expediting necessary procedures until the end of Marcos' term.
"Meron na kaming nakitang formula at tingin ko ay magagawa namin, kung hindi man isang milyon, almost 1 million ang mapapamigay natin (We have seen a formula and I think we can do it, if not one million, we can distribute nearly a million [CLOAs])," Estrella added.
Marcos earlier ordered the DAR to streamline services for land reform beneficiaries through close coordination with other local government units.
To date, the DAR has distributed around 15,000 land titles nationwide.
He noted remarkable progress under the current administration, saying the average turnover before was only 25,000 titles per year.
In 2023 alone, the DAR turned over around 70,000 land titles alongside other support services to agrarian reform beneficiaries, including the construction of farm-to-market roads and distribution of farm machinery and equipment, among others. (PNA)
