The Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, and Energy – Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (MENRE-BARMM), in coordination with the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), is set to distribute 6,667 hectares of government land to qualified beneficiaries in Lanao del Sur.
BARMM Senior Deputy Minister Abdulraof Macacua, concurrent MENRE-BARMM chief, said Wednesday the move is in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order (EO) 75, series of 2019, which directs all concerned government offices, such as MENRE, “to identify lands owned by the government devoted to or suitable for agriculture for distribution to qualified beneficiaries.”
“We have met with DAR officials on the matter,” Macacua said, referring to a meeting with DAR Undersecretary for Mindanao Affairs and Rural Development Ranibai Dilangalen at the BARMM government center here.
On Monday afternoon, he said matters regarding the planned distribution of idle government-owned lands (GOLs) in Lanao del Sur were lengthily discussed with the visiting DAR officials.
He said the discussion focused mainly on the technical assistance for the surveying of the 6,667 hectares of GOLs in Camp Keithley in Marawi City, Saguiaran, Piagapo, and Marantao, which include adjoining areas at the Mindanao State University, National Power Corp., and the Lanao del Sur Provincial Capitol.
Under the same plan, MENRE will develop and approve a Work and Financial Plan (WFP), including survey strategies, while the DAR will collaborate with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ national office in acquiring deeds and identifying qualified beneficiaries.
“Both offices will prepare an inventory of GOLs devoted to or suitable for agriculture, and no longer used for the purpose for which they have been reserved or acquired,” Macacua said.
The DAR national office, under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Law, will identify the selection of the land beneficiaries via EO 75.
Those who are within the 6,667-hectare land of GOLs will be prioritized, he said.
In a statement, Dilangalen said victims of the 2017 Marawi siege are also eyed as beneficiaries of the program.
“Such endeavor will further contribute to the development of Marawi City and in Lanao del Sur, in general,” she said.
Source: Philippines News Agency
