Marcos vows to finish agrarian reform by 2028

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Thursday vowed to finish the government's agrarian reform goals by 2028 or by the end of his term.

"Kaya naman po, sa ilalim din ng administrasyon na ito na si Sec. Conrad [Estrella III] ang puno ng DAR, ating sinisikap na makumpleto ang repormang pang-agraryo sa taong 2028 upang mapakinabangan na ng lahat ng mga benepisyaryo ang lupang sakahan," Marcos said in his speech in Quezon City.

(Under the leadership of Sec. Conrad Estrella III, we are aiming to complete agrarian reform by 2028 so that all beneficiaries can till their lands.)

The Presidential Communications Office said that from July 2022 to July 2024, the DAR distributed 136,116 land titles to 138,718 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) nationwide, covering 164,088 hectares of land.

More than P100,000 land titles, Marcos said, will be distributed before the end of the year.

During the Thursday event at the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) gymnasium, a total of 1,119 Certificates of Condonation and Release of Mortgage (COCROMs) were distributed to 1,000 agrarian reform beneficiaries from different cities and municipalities in Bulacan.

On June 10, 1988, the late President Corazon Aquino signed into law Republic Act 6657 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL).

Marcos said agrarian reform was not simply a program or project of his administration, but "a labor of love" rooted from his father, late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., and former Agrarian Reform chief Conrado F. Estrella Sr.

Conrado M. Estrella III, the incumbent DAR secretary, is the grandson of Conrado Sr.

In July 2023, the President signed Republic Act 11953 or the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, which condones the amortization of principal payments, interest and penalties on land tilled by farmers. — VDV, GMA Integrated News