CARP land redistribution for Central Visayas farmers nears completion

CEBU, Philippines – Over 160,000 farmers and farmworkers in Central Visayas have benefitted from the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) as of Friday, June 21.

Leomides Villareal, regional director of the Department of Agrarian Reform in Central Visayas (DAR 7), told reporters on Tuesday, June 25, that they have redistributed total of 190,414 out of 202,827 hectares of land under the CARP. That is a 94% accomplishment to date.

Villareal said there are a total of 160,650 recipients of CARP in the region.

The DAR Central Visayas said this included 33,880 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in Bohol, 32,450 in Cebu and 829 in Siquijor. Villareal said that Negros Oriental had the most number of ARBs at 93,491.

At present, the whole region still has a Land Acquisition and Distribution (LAD) balance of 12,413 hectares —this is the total land that still needs to be distributed.

LAD refers to the overall redistribution of public and private agricultural lands to qualified farmers and farmworkers, subject to the prescribed retention limit and just compensation of landowners.

“For [Central Visayas], it will be LAD-free eventually,” Villareal said.

56-year-old farmer

Juanito Alcuirez, 56, a farmer from Carcar City in Cebu said in a testimony video that his family was able to use the 2,400 square meters of land given to them by the agrarian reform agency for the construction of their ampalaya crop garden and pig pen.

“Kini amoang pagpakabuhi niining yuta, mao ning nakapahuman og pageskwela sa among mga anak. Nakahuman mi og lima ka mga anak,” Alcuirez said.

(Through the livelihood we made from this land, we were able to finish the schooling of our kids. We were able to put five of our kids through school)

Besides land, the DAR Central Visayas has also provided farm machinery and equipment (FMEs) to support farmers. From 2023 to 2024, the agency has supplied 207 FMEs, costing P39.4 million in total, to 5,613 beneficiaries across the region.

Villareal said they are now close to surpassing the region’s 202,827-hectare LAD target, especially after the remaining LAD balance of Negros Oriential and Siquijor is set to be transferred to the new Negros Island Region (NIR) in the coming months.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act No. 12000 or the NIR Law on June 13, unifying into one administrative region Negros Occidental, previously of Western Visayas, and Negros Oriental and Siquijor, formerly of Central Visayas.

While in Negros Occidental for a ceremonial distribution of land titles on April 8, Marcos said that the CARP land distributions must be completed before the end of his term in 2028. – Rappler.com