ALMOST 1,490 hectares of land in Negros Occidental covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) are up for distribution during the visit of President Rodrigo Duterte in Iloilo City on Wednesday, June 20.
Of the figure, Duterte will lead the distribution of 1,066.7406 hectares for 900 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in the northern portion of Negros Occidental, the biggest in Western Visayas.
The remaining 483.1668 hectares for 556 ARBs are under DAR in Negros Occidental-South.
The total area in the province will form part of 2,697.8697 hectares in the entire region up for distribution this week.
For other provinces, Aklan has 94.8808 hectares; Antique, 141.9188 hectares; Capiz, 501,7839 hectares; Guimaras, 177.9977; and Iloilo, 231.3711 hectares.
The massive distribution of certificates of land ownership award (Cloas) is part of the agency's celebration of 30th anniversary of CARP implementation in the country.
DAR in Negros Occidental-South Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II Lucrecia Taberna told SunStar Bacolod that the 483 hectares up for distribution this week will add to about 1,000 hectares distributed in the southern portion of the province, from Bago City to Hinoba-an, as of June this year.
Taberna said they still have about 4,000 hectares for potential distribution, or those lands in advanced stages, this year.
"These are landholdings already surveyed and field investigated by the DAR and Land Bank of the Philippines," she said, reiterating that "we are optimistic to reach the 5,000-hectare distribution target this year."
Data earlier obtained by SunStar Bacolod showed that in 30 years of CARP implementation, DAR in Negros Occidental-South already distributed a total of 115,677 hectares covering 73,635 ARBs.
It has a workable balance of 43,000 hectares for land acquisition and distribution (LAD).
The distributed land in the south forms part of the total 187,677 hectares of Carp areas distributed in Negros Occidental since the program started in 1988.
DAR in Negros Occidental-North distributed 72,000 hectares in areas it covers, from Bacolod City to San Carlos City. It has a LAD balance of about 54,000 hectares.
Teresita Mabunay, provincial agrarian reform program officer II of DAR in Negros Occidental–North, earlier said they target to distribute 6,000 hectares this year.
Of the said target, Mabunay said they already distributed about 15 percent, or 895 hectares, and the remaining areas up for distribution this year already have notices of coverage (NOCs).
In terms of Carp, Negros Occidental has the biggest area in the country, she added.
Meanwhile, aside from Cloa distribution, the President will also lead the turnover of farm-to-market road projects in five Iloilo towns totaling almost P177 million.