Gov't eyes distributing 800,000 hectares of agrarian lands by 2028
MANILA — The government said on Thursday that it was eyeing distributing 800,000 hectares of agrarian lands to beneficiaries by 2028 or after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s term ends.
Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella said this translates to "a little less than" 800,000 titles.
"Dahil nadiskubre na namin kung papaano, nakabuwelo na tayo. Palagay ko, God willing, kung pagkatapos ng term ng ating Pangulong Marcos, maipamimigay natin lahat iyon," Estrella said in an interview in Malacañang.
Estrella added his agency hoped to distribute 100,000 more Certificates of Land Ownership Awards by the end of 2024. Prior to this, they had already distributed 45,000 land titles in the first half of the year.
Estella attributes the Department of Agrarian Reform's faster rate of distribution of lands during the present administration to better coordination with other government agencies to address backlogs.
"Ang problema kasi noon kaya mabagal yung labas ng mga titulo? Kasi hindi nagcocoordinate noon ang LRA. Ang Land Registration Authority. Ang Register of Deeds, and DENR at ganoon din ang Department of Agrarian Reform," he explained.
"Ngayon nagkakaisa kami,” he added.
According to Estrella, the administration has distributed more than 26,000 land titles in 2022 and 69,000 in 2023. In the same interview, Estrella noted the need for the government to make agriculture more appealing to the younger population to encourage more Filipinos to take up farming.
This is amid concerns over the seeming lack of interest of younger generations to join the agricultural sector, which is seen to impact the country’s food security in the future.
“Let's make agriculture sexy again. We have to encourage the young people to go into it. We lure them by EO 75,” Estrella said, referring to the order signed by former Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal that mandates that government-owned lands suitable for agriculture can be distributed to those belonging to priority sectors. These, he said, include graduates of four-year agriculture courses.
“Magpapa-list ka sa Regional director. Kasi depende din. Mahirap kasi kumuha ng mga government-owned lands. Maraming mga unibersidad. State universities and colleges napakaluluwang ng kanilang mga thousands and thousands of hectares, di naman nila ginagamit. Eh bakit din natin ipamigay doon sa puwedeng gumamit. Eh kung gusto nila eh di graduate di ng kanilang estudyante. Pero may pumayag na. yung Pangasinan State U. Saka yung Northern Mindanao State U. Pumayag sila,” he said.
