Thousands of lands may be covered by agrarian reform if House Bill No. 555 or the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill will be passed into law.

Secretary Rafael Mariano said, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) is continuously receiving petitions of land holding that may possibly be subject to agrarian reform even if the issuance of notice-of-coverage or NOC had lapse in June 2014.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) will focus on the country’s 10 poorest provinces as part of president-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s thrust to increase food production and alleviate poverty.

Incoming agriculture secretary Emmanuel Piñol said through a strategy called Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD), the department would look at the weaknesses of an area, its potentials in food production and livelihood programs.