The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Negros Oriental has distributed some 96 percent of government land to beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
DAR-Negros Oriental chief Manuel Galon told the Philippine News Agency Aug. 19 that the accomplishment includes the issuance of individual land titles under Project SPLIT (Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling).
“Under our land transfer program, our total scope in Negros Oriental is some 130,000 hectares of government land and our total balance now is at 2,600 hectares,” Galon said.
The accomplishment began in 1972, with the start of the land reform program under the administration of then president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., he added.
Initially, the distribution was made through a Collective Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CCLOA) to qualified beneficiaries, but now they are receiving their individual land titles.
Galon reminded beneficiaries to apply and be validated by DAR to access the land reform program.
He noted that not all applicants are eligible for the government’s land distribution program.
Around 2,000 individual land titles are pending with the Registry of Deeds and the DAR hopes to complete the distribution in the next two years, he added.
Meanwhile, the DAR Negros Island Region has assumed responsibility for three provinces in the Visayas.
DAR-NIR will include the provinces of Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and Siquijor in Project SPLIT, which is funded by the World Bank and designed to convert collective land titles into individual titles for agrarian reform beneficiaries.
Project SPLIT documents from Central Visayas Region have been turned over to DAR-NIR.
Galon said that aside from Project SPLIT, which is part of the CARP, all operational and administrative functions will now be managed by the regional office, based in Bacolod City.
“We are confident that it will now be easier to do transactions due to its strategic location,” he said in Monday’s turnover of documents.
Negros Occidental was previously under the Western Visayas Region, while Negros Oriental and Siquijor were part of Central Visayas.
Galon said DAR-NIR is also considering putting up a satellite office in Siquijor so that clients no longer have to travel by sea to Negros Oriental. ||
