BARMM to pursue agrarian reforms

THE Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has forged a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) for the full implementation of agrarian reform programs.

DAR Undersecretary for Mindanao Affairs Office Amihilda Sangcopan said Secretary Conrado Estrella 3rd signed the MoU with BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Murad Ibrahim on January 28 in Cotabato.

Sangcopan said the joint undertaking would be vital in the implementation of the agency’s agrarian reforms programs in Muslim areas.

“With MoU, there would be some papers or documents that need to prepare before we can be able to carry out our tasks as far as the implementation of agrarian reform programs of our secretary and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in BARMM are concerned,” she told the “Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon” on PTV4.

“The memorandum of understanding is actually the document that would lay down the framework on how the agrarian reform programs would be implemented there (BARMM),” she stressed.

She said the DAR and BARMM are expected to conduct a coordinating meeting within the month to further formalize the partnership.

The DAR official cited the agency’s three pillar programs — land tenure service, support service and agrarian justice delivery — which are expected to be fully implemented in the region through the MoU.

Under the undertaking, Sangcopan said the DAR laid down its roles and responsibilities while its BARMM counterpart, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform, will take care on how the three major programs would be carried out in the Muslim areas.

Confirming that DAR had already an undertaking with BARMM during the previous administration, Sangcopan said the latest joint agreement by the two government entities would ensure a continuity of the program.

“As we all know, it’s still in BARMM that more lands are still up for distribution,” she said.

Sangcopan said DAR is one of the government agencies that contribute to the normalization program of the Marcos administration.