[ Manila Bulletin Online ] February 3, 2009
By MIKE U. CRISMUNDO
BUTUAN CITY — At least 5,104 landless farmers from the five provinces of Northeastern Mindanao (Caraga Region) have received land titles from the regional office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) under the "Handog Titulo ni Pangulong GMA" program.
In his report to DENR Secretary Jose "Lito" L. Atienza, Jr., Northeastern Mindanao Regional Executive Director Edilberto S. Buiser said that "the initiative is a continuing effort of the DENR in the region to distribute patents to the farmers to accomplish the target of the President."
He said the four Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Offices (PENROs) and thirteen Community Environment and Natural Resources Offices (CENROs) all over the region are still processing land title patents for landless farmers, particularly for the indigenous people.
Buiser said that last year, the DENR targeted to distribute more than 9,000 patents, covering 11,696 hectares of agricultural lands, but the agency was only able to distribute some 5,104 patents to the different landless people in the provinces of Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur, with a total area of 5,188 hectares or an average of one hectare of agricultural land per individual.
Paquito R. Rosal, regional technical director for Land Management Services, said the DENR expects to accomplish the remaining balance of its target before the end of the first quarter of this year.
Buiser said land distribution will be one of the main focus of the anti-poverty and anti-hunger campaign of the DENR.
Under the Poverty Reduction and Hunger Mitigation program of President Arroyo, the DENR will distribute about 187,389 patents covering 159,503 hectares of land throughout the country this year.
"We are going full blast on patent distribution to reach our target," the DENR land management official said.
Buiser has issued instructions to the PENROs and CENROs in the provinces and six cities of Caraga Region to get an update of all active projects on watershed areas.
"Through the distribution of lands which is being pushed through the Accelerated Hunger Mitigation Program (AHMP) of President Arroyo, the poor people from the rural areas will have the opportunity to be free from the shackles of poverty because they can now till their own lands," said Buiser.
He instructed the 13 CENROs to provide an all-out "logistics and moral support" to all personnel in land services to achieve the said target.
Newly promoted PENRO Rosendo A. Asunto is set to distribute more land patents this year in the ten municipalities of Agusan del Norte and Butuan City.
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