Following the passage of Senate Bill No. 2278 back in 2014, allowing the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to continue issuing notices of coverage, which are given to landowners to inform them their property is eligible for the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and will be subject for distribution, the agency is still awaiting for a component bill to pass in the House of Representatives.

According to DAR-Negros Occidental-1 Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II Teresita Mabunay, “[The bill] was disapproved by the House of Representatives.”

“We are pushing for the passage of [a] law that will authorize DAR again to issue [notices],” she added.

The local DAR official also affirmed CARP has not ended, but distribution cannot proceed without the notices.

Last week, President Rodrigo Duterte was in Cabatuan, Iloilo for a DAR-6 observance for the 30th anniversary of CARP at the Cabatuan Covered Gym.

During the event, a total of 3,772 Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) were issued to 2,314 beneficiaries from across the region./WDJ