DAR hikes land distribution target

Agrarian Reform Secretary Jose Mari Ponce is courting various stakeholders in the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), including the civil society, to join him in a bid to win the war against poverty in the countryside.

To win their support, Ponce said he is launching a no-nonsense implementation of CARP, targeting to distribute at least 130,000 hectares of land, 30,000 hectares more than the annual target of 100,000 hectares set by Malacañang.

"Winning back our stakeholders’ support, especially from the civil society and farmer-beneficiaries, is the key to winnign our war against rural poverty," Ponce said during the 2004 National Planning and Budgeting Conference of the Depatment of Agrarian Reform (DAR) held at the Island Cove Resort in Kawit, Cavite.

"We’ve got to exert more efforts and show to all CARP stakeholders that DAR is up to the task, that is, of fast tracking the distribution of agricultural lands to landless farmers and of speeding up the delivery of agrarian justice and of support services," he added.

Ponce expressed optimism that DAR could even exceed its target for the year, especially now that the $683-million (roughly P38 billion) Marcos Swiss deposits is available to fund CARP. Some 30 billion will go to CARP and the rest will be used to compensate the Marcoses’ human rights victims.

He said P15 billion of DAR’s share would be used as its budget for this year. About P10 billion will be used for acquiring lands and for paying former landowners who have not been paid for properties already distributed to farmer-beneficiaries. The remaining P5 billion will be used to speeding up the delivery of support services such as farm-to-market roads, bridges, irrigation and post-harvest facilities, among others.

With assured funds, Ponce said he expects landowners to be more cooperative with the government now that it is capable of paying them promptly.

Ponce noted that many landowners are cautious in giving up their properties because of apprehensions that they might not be compensated properly.