A squash farm in Nuevo Trabaho, San Luis, Agusan del Sur. MindaNews photo by CHRIS V. PANGANIBAN
PROSPERIDAD, Agusan del Sur (MindaNews / 17 February) – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday vowed to distribute lands to all landless farmers before his term ends in 2028, as he assured that his administration will pursue all legal avenues to address their longstanding agrarian concerns.
The President was here to lead the distribution of land titles to 3,184 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in Caraga region held at the Datu Lipus Makapandong Cultural Center inside the provincial capitol complex.
“Ayoko ng Band Aid solusyon. Ang hanap ko ay permanenteng lunas (I don’t want a band aid solution.
I’m looking for a permanent cure),” he said in his speech .
Marcos was referring to Executive Order 4 he issued on Sept. 13, 2022 imposing a one-year moratorium on the payment of amortization and interest on agrarian debts, which provides farmers a relief from their loan obligations.
He said the EO is only a temporary solution to the farmers’ problem, prompting him to sign into law Republic Act 11953, or the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, benefiting over 600,000 ARBs nationwide.
He and Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III vowed to distribute lands to all agrarian ARBs before their terms end.
Estrella III said the distribution of land titles will boost the agricultural activities in the region and uplift the farmers’ economic standing “because giving these thousands of landless farmers a land to call their own would spark confidence in them to work harder and to make it more productive.”
The President noted that the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) was able to distribute over 90,000 land titles last year, which almost doubled the original target of only 50,000 titles.
A total of 4,659 hectares of agricultural lands were distributed to the ARBs through Certificates of Land Ownership Award.
The DAR also distributed P8.9 million worth of farm machinery and equipment to 11 agrarian reform beneficiaries’ organizations in the region under the Climate-resilient Farm Productivity and Support Program and in partnership with the Department of Agriculture for the upscaling of the coconet and biofertilizers enterprise.
“Agrarian reform remains an unrealized dream because the emancipation of farmers does not end with the receipt of titles declaring ownership of the land they are already tilling. They must be unshackled from debt, freed from high cost of inputs, relieved of constraints that impoverish them,” the President said. (Chris V. Panganiban/MindaNews)
