All land titles intended for agrarian reform beneficiaries around the country will be distributed in the next four years, President Marcos said.
Marcos made the promise anew during his visit in Tacloban City on Monday, May 20, to distribute land titles and assistance to farmers in Eastern Visayas.
"Hangad ko na sa loob ng aking termino, lahat ng benepisyaryo ng Repormang Agraryo ay makakatanggap ng titulo ng kanilang sariling lupa. Tatapusin po natin ito sa susunod na apat na taon (My goal during my term is for all agrarian reform beneficiaries to receive their own land titles. We will accomplish that in the next four years)," Marcos said in his speech.
The President also said that he has directed the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to expedite the processing of documents for the release of land titles.
"Kaya't in-streamline na namin lahat ng mga proseso. Sabi ko mas mabilis pa (We streamlined the process. I told them to expedite it further)," he said in a media interview following the distribution of land titles and assistance.
He told the beneficiaries present during the turnover program that he is aware that they have been waiting for the titles to be granted to them, he assured them that his administration will make the "agrarian promise for the entire country" come true.
He further said that the government is looking to distribute land titles covering more than 23,000 hectares before the year ends.
"Kaya naman inatasan ko at sinabihan ko ang Department of Agrarian Reform na pag-ibayuhin ang kanilang mga programa tulad ng SPLIT o Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling upang maibigay na agad ang lupa sa lahat ng kwalipikadong benepisyaryo (So I directed and asked the Department of Agrarian Reform to intensify the implementation of programs such as SPLIT or the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling to give lands to qualified beneficiaries)," he said.
The Chief Executive also noted that this year, DAR was able to distribute over 15,000 hectares of land to around 9,000 beneficiaries in the country.
On Monday, a total of 5,438 land titles were distributed in Eastern Visayas.
Of this number, 5,400 are electronic titles issued under SPLIT Project while 38 are Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
These form part of the 7,914 hectares of land located in several towns in Leyte, Biliran, Southern Leyte, Western Samar, Eastern Samar and Northern Samar, benefitting around 5,906 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs).