The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) is assessing more government-owned agricultural lands that could be awarded to some 15,000 Metro Manila dwellers and returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who opt to return to the provinces to start a new life.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
"We want to help the government in decongesting Metro Manila and other urban areas by awarding them with farmlands in habitable communities in the provinces," DAR Secretary John Castriciones said in a statement.
The proposed "New Economic Opportunities in Government-Owned Land Distribution (NEO-GOLD)," once approved, will be implemented by the DAR Field Operations Office headed by Undersecretary David Erro.
Erro said this is the DAR’s answer and support for the "Balik Probinsiya, Bagong Pag-asa Program" of the government.
This initiative is now preparing the ground for the establishment of agro-industrial communities and facilitating the development of rural areas into self-contained communities for sustainable livelihood.
"We will provide and prepare a place conducive for the establishment of new liveable communities where the Metro Manila migrants and OFWs can start a new life and engage in sustainable agricultural production and agri-enterprise after the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic," Erro said.
Meanwhile, Castriciones said the proposed NEO-GOLD project of the DAR is planning to distribute 30,000 hectares of government-owned lands to qualified enrollees of the program for agricultural production, allocation of space for housing, and construction of community facilities and roads.
"We will organize these 15,000 enrollees into agrarian cooperatives as production and marketing clusters. This way, we can develop their technical and management skills in agri-production and agri-enterprise," the DAR chief said.
He also vowed that the DAR will coordinate and facilitate the provision of credit and microfinance for production, processing, and agri-enterprises for the 15,000 enrollees.