LAND TITLES. Agrarian reform beneficiaries raise their Certificates of Land Ownership Award in a ceremony led by Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III (center) in Rosales, Pangasinan on Dec. 28, 2023. Aside from distributing lands, the DAR is also directed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to provide support services for the beneficiaries to fully utilize the lands awarded to them. (Photo courtesy of DAR-Pangasinan)
MALASIQUI, Pangasinan – The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in the Ilocos Region has completed over PHP717 million worth of farm-to-market roads, and over PHP36 million worth of bridges from July 2022 to May 2024.
DAR Ilocos Director Maria Ana Francisco said this is in line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr’s directive to the agency to provide support services to agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs).
“We now have the farm-to-market road component this time, because we know it is very difficult to transport the goods to the market and sometimes there are third parties who get the produce from the farmers,” she said in Filipino during the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas forum here on Tuesday.
She said under the Sustainable and Resilient Agrarian Reform Communities (SuRe ARC) project, 112 farm-to-market roads were constructed with a total length of 61.50 kilometers and benefited 17,873 ARBs and 49 communities in the region.
Under SuRe ARC, DAR Ilocos also distributed 473 farm machinery and equipment, 2,107 packs of organic fertilizer, constructed five green houses with complete facilities, and five green houses for tissue culture, with a total worth of PHP79.7 million benefiting 449 agrarian reform beneficiaries’ organizations.
SuRe ARC is a multi-faceted program that aims to increase agricultural productivity and income of the ARBs through the provision of various mechanization projects and support services.
Meanwhile, Francisco said four bridges, with a total length of 126.60 meters, were built in the region under the Tulay ng Pangulo para sa Kaunlarang Pang-Agraryo (President’s Bridge for Agrarian Progress) program during the same period, benefiting 1,928 ARBs and four ARCs.
In partnership with the National Irrigation Administration, DAR-Ilocos completed 11 irrigations worth PHP102.3 million, covering 764 hectares and benefiting 832 ARBs and 11 ARCs.
On the implementation of the Republic Act 11953 or the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, Francisco said 4,490 qualified ARBs covering 4,145.42 hectares in Region 1 were given loan condonation, majority of whom are in Pangasinan.
The New Agrarian Emancipation Act signed by President Marcos in July last year condones the remaining balance in the principal amortization of the Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) beneficiaries, including interests, penalties and surcharges.
Meanwhile, under the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) project, there were 4,159 e-titles distributed in the region, covering 4,968 hectares and benefiting 6,013 ARBs, Francisco said.
Project SPLIT subdivides collective CLOAs into individual land titles so every farmer-beneficiary may exercise full ownership and possession, and will have complete control in cultivating the area the way he or she sees fit, according to DAR.
Francisco said project SPLIT is ongoing and has been extended until 2025.
DAR-Ilocos likewise completed other projects under Climate Resilient Farm Productivity Support; Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty; Village Level Farm-Focused Enterprise Development; and Community-managed Potable Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene, worth a total of PHP126.2 million.
DAR solved 1,515 cases in 2022 to 2023 giving them zero backlogs in case resolutions, and have represented 11,802 ARBs in legal assistance mediation. (PNA)
