QUEZON CITY -- To uplift the lives of landless farmers, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in the province of Isabela distributed 46 hectares of government-owned lands (GOLs) to 55 farmer-beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II (PARPO) Eunomio Jr. P. Israel said the department distributed a total of 67 certificates of land ownership award (CLOAs) from the properties covered by the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) in Sta. Maria, Cauayan City
“We were able to distribute the public lands because of the issuance of Executive Order (EO) No. 75, Series of 2019, which directed the DAR to distribute idle public agricultural lands that can be covered under the CARP,” Israel said.
EO 75, Series of 2019, was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in February 2019 to accelerate and ensure the immediate identification and segregation of all unclassified lands of public domain and all GOLs suitable for agrarian reform. DAR was named as the lead agency that will provide central direction and coordination for the implementation of the said executive order.
Israel divulged that since the distributed lands are GOLs, the agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) who received them are not required to pay amortizations.
“All they need to do is to continuously cultivate and make the lands productive. The DAR is there to help the ARBs enrich their lands and improve their economic lives,” he said.
