Some 9,000 hectares of government-owned lands (GOLs) remained available for distribution to the agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) of Busuanga, Palawan, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said Saturday.
DAR Secretary John Castriciones stressed that “we are pooling all our resources so that we could give all these properties to the landless farmers this year.”
On January 22, Castriciones led national and government officials in the distribution activity of around 80 hectares of agricultural lands to 102 ARBs held in Busuanga gymnasium.
Castriciones noted that the distribution of lands is just the first tranche of distributing the GOLs in the municipality.
He explained that with President Duterte’s signing into law of Executive Order (EO) No. 75, Series of 2019, on February 1, 2019, the DAR has quickly facilitated the process of subjecting this land under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
“The DAR being named as the lead agency that provides central direction and coordination for the implementation of the said executive order would expedite the process of acquiring the lands for distribution,” Castriciones said.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Castriciones said “they keep on working and even visiting various sites in the countryside to see that the implementation of CARP is on the right track.’’ (Chito A. Chavez)
Meanwhile, Support Services Office Undersecretary Emily Padilla said that the DAR is doubling its effort so that they could finish all the backlogs of the past administration in distributing the lands before the president’s term ends.
“President Duterte ordered us to award all the undistributed lands before his administration ends. These landless farmers are fighting for their rights to the lands for many years and the President understands that is why he has given us this task,” Padilla said.
Busuanga Mayor Elizabeth Cervantes, on her part, expressed her gratitude to the President for signing EO No. 75.
“Today is a historic day for our farmers. They are the first beneficiaries of the executive order in our town,” she said.
Benigno Portes Jr. from Brangay San Rafael, who is one of the farmer-beneficiaries who received the GOL, thanked the government for the land and believed that because of this, their lives would improve.