Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones (left) hands over a certificate of land ownership during a ceremony at the Baliwag Star Arena in Barangay Pagala on Monday afternoon. Also present in the distribution of 1,100 hectares of agricultural land to deserving farmers was Bulacan Gov. Daniel Fernando (right). PHOTO BY FREDERICK SILVERIO
IN what might be perceived as a remarkable departure from its main objective of distributing small parcels of land from large haciendas (agricultural estates) to individual tenant farmers, an official of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has suggested that farm consolidation may be the best path toward improving agriculture livelihoods and productivity.
This is an eminently sensible and long overdue recommendation, one that we agree wholeheartedly with, for precisely the reasons explained by the DAR official making the call, Undersecretary for Foreign-assisted and Special Projects Bernie Cruz, who spoke during a recent webinar hosted by state think-tank the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).