PINAMUNGAJAN, Cebu — Following a recent order from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR)’s central office, the DAR in Cebu province will be expanding its Land Acquisition and Distribution (LAD) coverage program from 3,146 to 5,646 hectares this year.

The said increase was in line with the agency’s implementation of Republic Act 9700 otherwise known as the CARPER law which provides for the distribution of remaining lands under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) within a five-year period only.

Meanwhile, DAR-Cebu’s chief of operations division, Lilian Guanzon said the provincial agrarian office has only distributed close to 200 hectares from January to June this year due to the processing of private agricultural lands (PAL) that usually causes delay in land distribution.

“Private agricultural lands usually take a longer processing period as compared to public lands which are easier to manage because it is only a government-to-government transaction,” she said.

However, Guanzon pointed out that DAR-Cebu remains optimistic about hitting its five-year goal this year as PAL processes are usually finished in the third and fourth quarter of the year where the agency usually fast- tracks land distribution.

Last year, in fact, the provincial agrarian office was able to exceed its target by about 135 percent on land tenure improvements (LTI).

LTI component aims at securing the tenurial status of farmers and farmworkers in the lands they till. This is operationalized through land acquisition and distribution (LAD) or leasehold operations.