QUEZON CITY -- In compliance with the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) is working double-time to speed up the distribution of idle government-owned lands to landless war veterans, their surviving spouses or orphaned children, retired military and police personnel, and agricultural courses graduates.
DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III said he had ordered all field land reform program implementers to immediately conduct field validation activities and piece together pertinent documents to determine the areas of government-owned lands that could be distributed to the intended beneficiaries.
Estrella said there are 24,459 hectares of government-owned lands that are up for field validation, 14,118 hectares of them are targeted for distribution this year under Executive Order No. 75, series of 2019.
The said executive order directs all government agencies to identify and distribute agricultural lands owned by the government to qualified beneficiaries.
In his State of the Nation Address, Marcos Jr. vowed to pursue the “distribution of unused government agricultural lands to landless war veterans, their surviving spouses or orphaned children, retired military and police personnel and agricultural courses graduates.”
DAR Undersecretary for Field Operations Atty. Kazel Celeste conveyed Estrella’s order in her two-page memorandum to regional and provincial land reform implementers, directing them to conduct field validation activities immediately and submit their reports at the soonest possible time.
Besides the validation reports, Celeste expects them to present other supporting documents, such as photocopies of the Proclamation or titles, certifications from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources classifying the lands as alienable and disposable, certifications from the Department of Agriculture as to their suitability for farming and the identified areas for coverage, among others.
Celeste expressed the DAR’s resolve to distribute identified government-owned lands to qualified beneficiaries when she advised the field land reform program implementers to seek military and/or police assistance “in cases wherein you are denied entry by the government instrumentality.” (DAR)
