COTABATO CITY – 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 07 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 thy 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)
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