The Department of Agrarian Reform is strengthening its legal department with new recruits in order to speed up the resolution of cases of agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs).
DAR has distributed numerous Certificate of Land Ownership Awards but ARBs are often faced with legal impediments that prevent them from taking full possession and control of their lands.
Each delay in the resolution of cases “would be a big blow to the country’s food self-sufficiency program as many farmlands that are under litigations are often left untilled or idle,” DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella said in a statement on Friday
“Resolving pending cases is one of the major concerns of the Department to avoid protracted litigations that prevent the ARBs from possessing and making productive the lands awarded to them,” Estrella said.
“The earlier these cases are resolved, the earlier we can help them move on with their lives,” he added.
DAR has identified 139 vacant regular positions in its legal divisions.
As of September 30, a total of 5,713 cases were resolved by the DAR Adjudication Board, out of a total of 8,082 nationwide, for a 70-percent accomplishment.
Another 2,634 out of 4,517 Agrarian Law Implementation cases were similarly granted resolutions, translating to a 58-percent accomplishment rate.
Source: Philippines News Agency
