DAR validates
Leyte farmer organizations as among potential recipients of the
P16-B assistance
The
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) validates the Brgy. Petrollo
Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Calubian, Leyte as
potential recipient of a package of support services under the
Sustainable and Resilient Agrarian Reform Communities (SuRe ARCs)
program. |
By
JOSE ALSMITH L. SORIA
December 13, 2022
TACLOBAN CITY – Six
agrarian reform beneficiaries organizations (ARBOs) from remote
villages in the province of Leyte are being considered as among the
potential recipients of a package of support services from the
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) which aims to develop the rice
and corn as well as coconut producing areas in the country.
Melecia Ong, Chief of the
Program Beneficiaries Development Division (PBDD) at the DAR
Regional Office, disclosed that ₱16-billion from the agrarian reform
fund (ARF) is earmarked for the Sustainable and Resilient Agrarian
Reform Communities (SuRe ARCs) program to develop areas under major
crops in support to the food security program of the Marcos
administration.
In Eastern Visayas, Ong
shared, we recommended areas planted to rice and corn, and coconut,
which are the dominant crops here.
Last week, staff from DAR
Central Office’s Bureau of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Development
(BARBD) validated the rice producing Canmarating, Odiongan, Pagsang-an,
Sulpa Irrigators Association (COPS-IA) in Abuyog; Catoogan, Ulhay,
Lacdas Irrigators Association, Inc. (CUL-IA, Inc.), with members
from Abuyog and Javier; Sanulmaco Irrigators Association, Inc. in
Javier; and the coconut-based Brgy. Agutayan Farmers Association in
Hilongos; Enage Agrarian Reform Farmer Beneficiaries Association (EARFBA)
and the Brgy. Petrollo Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (BPFMPC),
both in Calubian.
The said ARBOs were
validated based on the organization’s operation management, program
engagement, governance, farm mechanization, physical infrastructure,
and support from local partners and other agencies.
Ong further disclosed that
those who will qualify will receive a package of support services
which include farm inputs, machineries, trainings, and
infrastructure projects, in line with Agrarian Reform Secretary
Conrado Estrella III’s nine primary goals which include farm
mechanization and capacitating the ARBOs.
She added that DAR’s SuRe
ARCs program is seen to boost the agriculture sector which
eventually will bring an increased income to the farmers
particularly the agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) which will
benefit not only the recipient ARBOs, but the entire community as
well.
Ong also stressed that
this undertaking will likewise contribute to End Local Communist
Armed Conflict (ELCAC), a whole-of-nation approach to address
insurgency in the country.