DAR-Palawan exceeds 2012 LAD target

By Victoria Asuncion S. Mendoza

Tuesday 15th of January 2013

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan, Jan 15 (PIA) -- The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Palawan office surpassed by 18 percent its land acquisition and distribution (LAD) program target in 2012 and maintained its position as the top performer under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program in Mimaropa.

In 2012, DAR-Palawan acquired and distributed 2,359 hectares, way above its target of 1,992 hectares.

The DAR is the lead implementing agency of the country’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program or CARP through land tenure improvement, agrarian justice, and coordinated delivery of essential support services to client-beneficiaries.

DAR-Palawan has been a consistent top performer in LAD surpassing its yearly target by over 100 percent for more than twenty consecutive years while sustaining the intensity in the provision of support services to its farmer-beneficiaries as well as in the delivery of agrarian justice.

Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer Conrado Guevarra said that the 2012 accomplishment plus the LAD coverages of the past 24 years add up to a total of 56,519 hectares which comprise 97 percent of the total CARP scope for Palawan of 58,212 hectares.

He said that the lives of the beneficiaries have fared well under the CARP. “Farmers who benefited from the agrarian reform program and chose to cooperate in the Agrarian Reform Community Development Program are better off than of those who are not,” Guevarra said.

He said that 1,525 hectares are targeted for 2013 based on the recent target setting session conducted by its Operations Division and field officials. These are privately-owned agricultural lands and are located in Puerto Princesa City and the other 10 municipalities in Palawan.

It is set to turn-over the P18.5-million Tagbolante Communal Irrigation Project and the P33-million Tagbolante Bridge and Road Approaches Project in Berong, Quezon this month. These two rural infra projects are being implemented under the Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Support Project. (VSM/TBO -PIA-Palawan)