[SPLIT News Alert] Marcos Jr. sees prices of basic goods to stabilize soon

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. expressed confidence Monday (July 22, 2024) that prices of basic commodities would stabilize as the number of hectares of farmlands awarded to beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) under his administration increased by more than three-fold compared to his predecessor.

Marcos said he expects prices of basic goods to stabilize soon after the country produced last year more than 20 million tons of palay or 20.06 tons to be exact, “the highest since 1987.”

In economics, greater productivity results in greater supply in the market, which may lead to the stabilization and, to some extent, to the lowering of prices of goods.

The President attributed the increase in palay production to the fast-tracking of land distribution where a total of 135,392 land titles were distributed, covering 163,062 hectares of farmlands, to 138,056 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in his first two years in office alone.

With more farmlands distributed and more hands to till them, Marcos said, it translates to greater productivity, the primordial concern of his administration in a bid to meet the ever-growing demand for basic goods, especially rice, which costs nowadays at P45 to P60 a kilo depending on the quality.

Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III explained that of the distributed 135,392 titles – comprising of electronic land titles (e-titles) from Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) Project, Emancipation Patents (EPs) and Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs), 43,617 titles covered freshly distributed 53,860 hectares of farmlands and were handed to 39,853 ARBs from January to July 2024.

On the other hand, records available showed that the previous administration distributed a total of 17,640 e-titles, EPs, and CLOAs, covering 26,403 hectares of farmlands to 17,549 ARBs over its last 16 months in office, from March 2021 to June 30, 2022.

“This is a clear testimony that the Marcos administration is determined to fast-track the distribution of farmlands to CARP beneficiaries with the end in view of enhancing farm productivity,” Estrella said.

Of the total 135,392 land titles