PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. is expected to receive the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for the New Agrarian Reform Emancipation Act by the second week of September, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said on Thursday.
“We intend to finish the IRR by Sept. 10 and present it to the President by Sept. 12 or Sept. 13,” Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado M. Estrella III told the House Appropriations Committee reviewing the proposed P5.768-trillion 2024 national budget.
He said the committee tasked to create the IRR convened on Monday.
Mr. Marcos signed Republic Act No. 11953 on July 7, which will condone debt incurred by land awardees.
The law is expected to help 610,054 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) holding 1.17 million hectares of land.
RA 11953 also terminates payments to landlords in a voluntary land transfer and direct payment scheme, which will benefit 10,201 ARBs across 11,531.24 hectares.
The DAR is proposing a P9.39 billion budget for 2024, which is 12.21% lower than this year’s.
Mr. Estrella noted that DAR has distributed 49,484 land titles in the year to date.
He said that under the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling program, the department distributed 33,654 titles in the seven months to July. This covers 46,241 hectares of land handed to 29,320 beneficiaries.
Under the Regular Land Acquisition & Distribution program, 15,830 titles have been distributed within the same time frame, covering 14,454 hectares of land for 14,303 (beneficiaries).
“Access to land empowers communities to establish local economies, generate employment opportunities, and enhance food security,” House Appropriations Senior Vice Chairperson and Marikina Rep. Stella Luz A. Quimbo told the committee. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz