BACOLOD CITY — The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) is targeting to distribute 6,000 hectares of farmland for beneficiaries in northern Negros Occidental province this year.
The area is under the coverage of DAR-Negros Occidental I — from Bacolod City to San Carlos City — under Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II Teresita Mabunay.
As of Friday, about 15 percent or 895 hectares of the 6,000 hectares have already been distributed.
Mabunay said the remaining areas up for distribution this year have been issued notices of coverage (NOCs).
The 6,000 hectares form part of the 54,000 hectares in balance landholdings for coverage of DAR-Negros Occidental I.
In Negros Occidental, which has the biggest land reform area in the country, 187,677 hectares of land have been distributed since the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) began 30 years ago.
Of the number, the DAR Negros Occidental-North has distributed 72,000 hectares as of last May 31.
A total of 52,000 beneficiaries are now holders of certificates of land ownership award (CLOAs) in the north.
Meanwhile, DAR Negros Occidental-II, which covers Bago City to Hinoba-an town in the south, has distributed a total of 115,677 hectares to 73,635 beneficiaries.
Mabunay said CARP should continue to enable them to complete the land acquisition and distribution balance.
“The agency needs more time, more years to finish it,” she said, adding that they are currently validating the NOCs for the remaining 54,000-hectare balance for possible errors.
Mabunay said they hope that a law would be passed, authorizing the DAR to resume the issuance of NOCs after the June 2014 deadline.
The CARP did not end in 2014, she said, only the issuance of NOCs was stopped.
The processing of all those issued prior to the deadline continues, she added.
Mabunay said the success of the land reform program should not only be based on the number of land distributed, but also on support services given by the government to agrarian reform beneficiaries to improve their lives. (Erwin Nicavera/PNA)
