New DAR Cagayan Valley head vows to speed up land distribution

THE NEW regional director of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Cagayan Valley (Region 2), Samuel S. Solomero, has vowed to expedite the land acquisition and distribution (LAD) program in line with the agency’s zero backlog target by 2022. “Following the marching order of DAR Secretary John R. Castriciones, I am very determined to cleanse the database on LAD balance and ensure that all the workable and even problematic landholdings are addressed accordingly,” said in a statement released by DAR Monday. He noted that in Isabela alone, the biggest province in the region and second in the country in terms of land area, 31,000 hectares have yet to be distributed under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). “Among the initial concrete actions include the maximization and rationalization of manpower and concentrating in the high-LAD municipalities,” said Mr. Solomero, a career official who has been with DAR for 30 years. Aside from Isabela, Cagayan Valley is composed of Batanes, Cagayan, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino. In May this year, Mr. Castriciones announced that the goal to complete the LAD program in three years is possible. He said more than 600,000 hectares of land are still to be covered under the CARP.