CARP accomplishments highlighted 19th anniversary celebration
The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) accomplishments for Western Visayas have been highlighted during its 19th anniversary celebration here.
Iloilo Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer (PARO) Ricardo Fernandez, who delivered the message in behalf of their regional director during the team building with the tri-media, said that CARP is a sensitive program by nature and that for the past years problems were encountered in the process of implementation. The tri-media team building is part of the anniversary celebration.
He said that they at the DAR, however, are thankful to the media's support through objective reporting and for reminding them to carry out their mandate.
Fernandez said that the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) obtained a very significant accomplishments even in Negros Occidental where it has been most beleaguered in the implementation of the program.
CARP, provided under Republic Act 6657, started to be implemented in 1998 with a P50 billion funds to cover its 20-year implementation in the entire country.
Nationwide, CARP is intended to cover 4.29 million hectares under its Land Acquisition and Distribution (LAD) program.
As of May 31, 2007, the program has covered 84.46 percent (3.69 million hectares).
In Western Visayas, 359,534 hectares of lands that have been distributed to a total of 227,584 farmer-beneficiaries.
There is also 89,524-hectare registered leasehold with 76,988 leaseholders in the region.
The DAR Adjudication Board has also resolved a total of 15,142 cases while the agrarian legal assistance has resolved 64,140 cases.
Also established in the region are 156 Agrarian Reform Communities (ARC) covering 104 municipalities and 381 barangays.
Presently, there are 35 on-going CARP-funded projects being undertaken by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) while 145 were already completed.
There are also eight on-going irrigation projects while 15 were reported already completed by the National Irrigation Administration in Region 6.
It is also reported that foreign-assisted projects in the form of farm-to-market roads, irrigation system, post harvest facilities, potable water system and other development support projects are now benefiting the ARCs in the region's six provinces.
As of Dec. 31, 2006, DAR report said the total amount of foreign assisted projects P 854,820,626.00.
These included 86 Rural Infrastructure Projects and 205 Productivity Systems Development Projects covering 22 ARCs and being implemented through the Agrarian Reform Support Project--European Union fund; 184 various projects covering 25 ARCs by the Asian Development Bank--Agrarian Reform Communities Project; 61 various projects covering seven ARCs by the Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Support Project-Japan Bank for International Cooperation; 22 various projects covering 12 ARCs by the Philippine-Australian Technical Support to Agrarian Reform and Rural Development; and projects for 20 ARCS by the United Nations Development Project--Support to Asset Reform through CARP and the Development of Indigenous Communities.
Because of these development support projects, being implemented for the agrarian reform beneficiaries, the average annual income now has increased to P81,244.07. The figure is better compared to the P13,055.00 annual per capita poverty threshold in Western Visayas' rural areas and the annual family income of P112,593.00.
(PNA)