4,600-hectare public lands awarded to CL farmers

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has distributed about 4,600 hectares of public lands to landless farmers in Central Luzon as part of President Arroyo’s anti-poverty program.

In a report to Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Michael Defensor, DENR-Central Luzon executive director Regidor de Leon said a total of 6,027 land titles or patents have been distributed to at least 10,000 marginalized farmers.

"The land distribution efforts are aligned with President Arroyo’s anti-poverty program in the countryside and in support of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP)," he said.

De Leon said the farmers may use the land titles as collateral for loans.

Since the government embarked on a large-scale land distribution program in 1999, the DENR has already distributed a total of 24,828 patents covering 17,110 hectares of public lands across Central Luzon, benefiting over 124,000 landless farmers and their families.

These were on top of the 1,823 land patents covering 610 hectares issued to landless farmers under the DENR’s regular distribution targets.

Leonardo Aggabao, deputy director for land management, said a patent signed and transmitted to the register of deeds will be issued a corresponding original land title under the free patent mode of land disposition.

To qualify for the "free patent" program, farmer-beneficiaries, or their legitimate heirs, must actually and continuously occupy public alienable and disposable lands for at least 30 years, he said.

Once they qualify, the farmer-beneficiaries are awarded land titles for free, but are obligated to pay real estate taxes to the government.

The DENR vowed to speed up the identification and survey of public lands for distribution to landless farmers.

It is set to distribute 14,375 more land patents covering about 11,500 hectares of agricultural lands this year.