Bohol aligns three major agrarian reform community (ARC) projects for foreign funding and leading officials are confident the province keeps an ace in its sleeves in accessing funds for its implementation.
The hidden card, provincial agrarian reform officers Atty. Johnson Sinco and Dr. Tony del Socorro point out, is the convergence formula implemented by Bohol leaders.
Convergence formula is a strategy of cost sharing in the implementation of projects where the beneficiary local government shares in the costs of the project with the funding agency and the community people's organizations.
Here, a barangay government fund is propped up with the share from the provincial government, other government agency in the area concerned with battling poverty.
Even the people's organization puts up labor counterpart, explains Atty. Sinco during the recent Kapihan sa PIA.
This way, the people realize that they too have ownership of the project and this improves the chances of communities taking care of the project sustainability, he added.
During the recent forum on the air in time for Department of Agrarian Reform Bohol Family Day, both officials reasoned out that it is not the sorry state of the communities that gave Bohol the edge.
While massive poverty in contiguous communities is one major criteria for allotting DAR CARP project funding, both officials also agree that funding agencies find a bias on good track records and in really spilling over development to areas needing one.
This year, according to Dr. del Socorro, Negros Oriental tails Bohol with two project proposals while Cebu and Siquijor each have one.
Eyed as funding agency for this year's identified sites in agrarian cluster communities is Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), PARO Sinco said.
Over the fears of farmers about the end of the government social justice program, DAR is again in communities to continue the mission to distribute public lands to landless tenants.
Modeling for the government, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in fact placed her husband's vast estates under the land reform program.
Presidential Economic Spokesperson Gary Olivar said the land reform program is part of the 10-point agenda of the President and her administration.
According to Olivar, the President, by distributing the land owned by her husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, demonstrates that she is serious about implementing the law and doesn't matter if her family gets hurt in the process. (PIA)