Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Secretary John Castriciones is pushing hard to meet the marching orders of President Rodrigo Duterte to pursue an “aggressive” land reform program that will help alleviate the life of poor Filipino farmers.

Castriciones said for the second phase of the agrarian reform program, they are eyeing to cover mainly reservations and lands occupied by state universities and colleges that have been left idle.

This was the statement of the DAR chief as the department simultaneously celebrates 30th year of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in the DAR central office and its regional offices nationwide.

The celebration is centered on the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program’s (CARP) implementation with various activities from June 18 to 29 at the DAR compound.

CARP is a government initiative that aims to grant landless farmers and farm workers ownership of agricultural lands. It is provided under the law enacted on June 10, 1988.

With the theme “CARP@30: DARe2 Change,” the DAR will highlight the three decades of land reform implementation as it moves forward to its second phase focusing on distributing idle government lands with intensive programs on providing support services to farmer-beneficiaries.

To kick off the anniversary celebration, a photo exhibit was held last June 18 at the DAR lobby featuring photo narration of the milestones of CARP for 30 years.

A housing program for agrarian reform beneficiaries was also launched. It is one of the major programs of the second phase of agrarian reform implementation under Duterte administration.

President Duterte, Castriciones and Gov. Arthur Defensor will lead a mass distribution of land titles to farmer-beneficiaries in Iloilo today, June 20.

A trade fair entitled “Harvesting the Best of 30 Years” will be showcased on the grounds of DAR on June 18 to 22. The trade fair will showcase agri-products of agrarian-beneficiaries such as fresh and processed poultry and meat products, food ingredients and additives, furniture and handicraft, natural and organic products and a lot more.

There will also be a short video showing three decades of CARP implementation and a cultural night from June 25 to 29.