ARCs Launch In Cotabato

Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema. (Mindanao Examiner Photo/Dong Cusain)

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 09 Mar) – Muslim and Christian farmers hailed the implementation of the government agrarian reform programs in Cotabato City in southern Philippines.

Agrarian Undersecretary Kashmir Leyretana and Mayor Muslimin Sema, of Cotabato City, on Thursday led the opening of 5 Agrarian Reform Communities (ARC) here. More than 5,000 farmers are expected to benefit from the program, said Sema.

“We will continue to work real hard so our farmers would enjoy the fruits of their labor,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

Some 5,000 hectares planted to rice and coconuts are covered by the ARC. Sema urged more farmers to put up cooperatives so the government can provide them aid and other assistance.

The DAR also has a program called “Support to Agrarian Reform Communities” of STARCM and previously distributed cultivation machineries to farmers’ multi-purpose cooperatives.

But cooperative members should undergo training they would be given assistance to ensure proper management of the projects.

STARCM is a seven year rural development program that assists in bridging the economic disparities of 50 agrarian reform communities (ARCs) in central Mindanao.

ARCs are groups of villages, where sustainable activities through convergence of development initiatives from various agencies, are introduced to improve the lives of poor farmers.

Over 51,000 farming households in Mindanao have benefited from the project. (Dong Cusain)