Wednesday 17th August, 2011 (Source: Manila Bulletin)
CATMON, Cebu, Philippines — The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Provincial Agrarian Reform Office (PARO) in Cebu is now preparing to title and distribute as much as 3,000 hectares of public agricultural lands under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in this town.
Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer (PARO) Isaganie Yee said these lands were previously under the control and administration of the National Livelihood and Support Fund (NLSF) per Presidential Proclamation No. 2282 and were turned over to the DAR in compliance with Executive Order 407, as amended, which effects the acceleration and distribution of lands under the public domain suitable for agriculture.
Covered by said DAR action will be land within 14 barangays, namely Binongkalan, Tabili, Ginabukan, Basak, Anapog, Bactas, Catadman, Flores, Cabunga-an, Agsuwao, Duyan, Tinabyonan, Corazon, and Catmon Daan.
The DAR, along with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) have gathered potential applicants and barangay officials in a “pulong-pulong” to discuss guidelines and procedures for the conduct of land surveys and titling of these agrarian areas.
Engr. Cynthia Ibañez, DENR- Chief of Aggregate Survey Section of the Land Management Sector (LMS) in Region VII personally joined the gathering to enlighten participants on procedures pertinent to approval of the survey.
The said areas of land are classified as alienable and disposable agricultural lands approved for land distribution as far back as although such action has subsequently been stalled after the DENR conducted land surveys and inconsistencies in the survey results became apparent.
To address the irregularities, the DAR Cebu Survey Team has gone on with the necessary survey activities needed before land titles could be finally issued.
The DENR on the other hand, will facilitate the approval of DAR survey results as well as needed action to complete the survey undertaking.
Yee has called for the participation and cooperation of actual occupants or claimants to identify land boundaries even as he urged them to join a meeting that will immediately follow once the conduct of a five-day survey this coming August 22-26 in Barangay Tinabyonan is done.