Palace OKs release of P2.3-B DAR funds

MANILA, Philippines - The national government has approved the release of P2.3 billion to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to fund the implementation of support services for agrarian reform beneficiaries.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the P2.3 billion would help sustain the livelihood of farmers all over the country as the fund is allotted to DAR’s support delivery component, the Program Beneficiaries Development (PBD).

The PBD’s goal is to support the beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in making their lands more productive, helping them create income-generating livelihood projects and teaching them community governance.

“The fund will benefit the following groups: the agrarian reform beneficiaries who will get the bulk of the amount, the rural women who will get P4.3 million, and the landowners who will also get P4.3 million,” Abad said.

Aside from increasing crop yields and household income and helping the farmers organize themselves, the PBD will also help women in the agricultural workforce become micro-entrepreneurs as part of DAR’s push for gender equality under the CARP.

“The DAR’s continuing support to agrarian beneficiaries is an important part of the agency’s mandate to achieve agrarian reform. We also want to ensure that the government’s efforts to develop the rural areas will give our farmers a sustainable future,” Abad added.

Tasked with distributing land to landless farmers under CARP, DAR has distributed 6.9 million hectares, 751,514 hectares of which were distributed during the Aquino administration.