MARAWI
CITY, Lanao del Sur, May 20 (PIA) --- The Department of Agrarian Reform
(DAR) of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DAR-ARMM) is working
on subdividing landholdings with collective certificates of land
ownership in the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi in
response to concerns of farmer-beneficiaries in those areas.
The
collective certificate of land ownership is one of the most pressing
issues raised by farmer-beneficiaries during agrarian reform
beneficiaries’ conferences in the three provinces. Other concerns raised
were the need for additional infrastructure support.
Collective land ownership is a case wherein only a single land certificate is provided to several farmer-beneficiaries.
Secretary
Amihilda Sangcopan of DAR-ARMM said her office has already contacted
agrarian reform provincial offices to work on the subdivision of
collective landholdings.
“We have instructed our provincial
offices to prioritize landholdings with collective certificates of land
ownership for us to redistribute the soonest the individual certificates
of land ownership to our farmer-beneficiaries,” she said.
The
regional agrarian reform department also created a special bids and
awards committee to address the bidding and procurement requirements of
its provincial offices since subdividing certificates of collective land
ownership requires a long process, she said.
The agrarian
reform beneficiaries’ provincial conferences in the island provinces of
Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi were held on April 24 to 25, May 7 and May
14, respectively. Approximately 800 farmer-beneficiaries attended these
conferences.
Meanwhile, similar events for the provinces of Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao will be held on May 21 and 27, respectively.
Director
Sangcopan said these conferences will boost agrarian reform
beneficiaries’ access to appropriate support services that they need.
She added that it will also strengthen the partnership of the agency and
the beneficiaries in implementing the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Program (CARP).
DAR is the lead agency in the implementation
of CARP, which is aimed at improving land tenure, installing agrarian
justice, and ensuring efficient delivery of essential support services
to program beneficiaries. (Bureau of Public Information-ARMM/APB/PIA-10)
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