The Department of Agrarian Reform has released guidelines on the issuance of identification cards for 352,211 farmer-beneficiaries from 2010 to 2020 under the enhanced community quarantine.
Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Office Luis Meinrado Pañgulayan said the agency has already released Memorandum Circular No. 4 to serve as guidelines on the issuance of ID cards to Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries in response to the current national health emergency measures arising from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
“The ARB IDs will be issued for the purpose of facilitating the access of the ARBs on the various government assistance, especially during the strict implementation of the enhanced community quarantine,” he said.
Among the assistance being eyed to be facilitated by the agency for farmer-beneficiaries is an emergency subsidy program and a social amelioration program to provide cash or non-cash subsidy to 18- million household beneficiaries.
There are also programs providing benefits and services from the local government units and national government agencies, and from the public sector or private sector offering support services to the farmers and their organizations.
“The ARBs, who belong to the marginalized sectors of the society, are badly affected by the strict implementation of the government community quarantine, not only in the entire island of Luzon, but also in the other regions of the country due to the danger of pandemic COVID-19, which is rapidly transmitted from human to human and has already claimed thousands of lives,” the DAR undersecretary said.
The ID card would contain a control number based on the ARB’s title number and affixed with the official dry seal of the DAR, electronic signatures of Secretary John Castriciones and the regional directors to be countersigned by the provincial agrarian reform program officer.
“The memorandum circular cover all ARBs who have been issued with registered emancipation patents, individual or collective certificates of land ownership award, other titles issued under any agrarian reform program, and holders of registered leasehold contracts,” Pañgulayan said.
“The ARB IDs to be issued under this memorandum circular shall be valid until 31 December 2020 unless sooner revoked or extended by the secretary upon the recommendation of the regional director,” he added.