Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III has ordered DAR's regional and provincial offices to validate the farmlands forfeited by the Bureau of Internal Revenue for possible inclusion to the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

Estrella based the directive on Executive Order No. 407 of 1990, which directs all government-owned or controlled corporations to transfer ownership of all lands suitable for agriculture to the DAR for immediate distribution to identified CARP beneficiaries.

Acting on the secretary's directive, Atty. Kazel Celeste, DAR Undersecretary for Field Operations, requested field implementers to submit reports of the BIR-forfeited properties in their respective areas.

The reports should contain information on the name of the taxpayers, tax declaration numbers, status, areas covered, classification, and locations of the properties, Celeste said.

Celeste said the mentioned information will help determine which of the properties can be included in the list of CARP-coverable landholdings for the execution of deeds of transfer.

A total of 500,000 hectares of agricultural lands are still up for distribution nationwide under CARP. However, 300,000 of these are classified as "problematic" for being under litigations.

The remaining 200,000 hectares are classified as "workable," meaning, free of any legal impediments, and up for distribution to landless farmers.

Half of the workable lands are under the jurisdiction of the DAR and the rest are under the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.