MANILA, Philippines — At least 800,00 land titles are expected to be distributed to the public before the end of Marcos administration, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said Wednesday.
Perhaps we estimate that we need to distribute around 800,000 more land titles before the end of the President’s term—and it looks like we can achieve that, DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III in a chance media interview.
He is also eyeing to distribute 100,000 land titles by this year.
DAR has currently distributed over 42,000 land titles for the first half of the year during his pre-SONA briefing last month.
Estrella said the land distribution would increase agricultural productivity in the country.
According to the data from DAR last July, the Marcos administration issued a total of 131,113 land titles, covering 157,766 hectares, to at least 133,693 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in its first two years.
This is a 743-percent increase since 2022, according to the DAR official.
This represents a substantial increase from the 17,640 titles distributed between March 2021 and June 2022. From July to December 2022 alone, approximately 21,876 titles were granted.
For 2023, Secretary Estrella reported that DAR surpassed the Congressional target of 50,000 land titles, reaching a total of 69,899 titles distributed nationwide.
In July last year, President Marcos Jr. signed the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, canceling the debts of 610,054 farmers. The law forgives P57.557 billion in loans for the land they farm.
