MIMAROPA, Philippines — For thousands of Filipino farmers, receiving land is only part of the battle. Keeping it, understanding their legal rights and resolving disputes over boundaries, ownership and possession can become an entirely different fight.
That is the problem the Department of Agrarian Reform is trying to address through its “Lawyers to the Benepisyaryo” program, an initiative that sends DAR lawyers directly into farming communities instead of requiring agrarian reform beneficiaries to travel to government offices for legal assistance.
The program has taken on added significance as the government pushes to strengthen land-tenure security for agrarian reform beneficiaries while continuing land titling, debt condonation and farmer-support programs across the country.
According to a Philippine Information Agency report published August 21, 2026, DAR MIMAROPA OIC Assistant Regional Director Josefina M. Lopez said the program is particularly intended to reach beneficiaries in remote communities who may struggle with transportation costs or access to government offices.
DAR lawyers travel closer to beneficiaries, provide legal guidance and help farmers understand the processes surrounding disputes involving agricultural land. Farmers may also reach the agency through channels including social media, text messaging and Facebook, according to Lopez.
Land Disputes Can Threaten More Than Ownership
For farmers, a disagreement involving a few meters of property, a boundary marker or the legal status of a parcel of land can threaten the farm that provides food and income for an entire family.
DAR officials say some disputes have even involved relatives fighting each other over land.
Lopez said the agency has helped parties—including siblings and other family members—reach agreements in disputes involving property. The objective is not merely to explain the law but, when possible, to prevent conflicts from escalating while protecting the legitimate rights of agrarian reform beneficiaries.
One beneficiary, Edison De Roma of Barangay Pahilahan in Pola, Oriental Mindoro, told PIA that the program helped farmers better understand their rights and the proper processes involving their property.
That legal knowledge can prove critical because agricultural land awarded under agrarian reform is governed by rules that may not always be familiar to beneficiaries.
The Program Did Not Start in 2026
While the latest PIA report highlights the continuing rollout of the initiative, “Lawyers to the Benepisyaryo” has been operating in MIMAROPA for years.
DAR MIMAROPA formally brought the program to Romblon in March 2022, when around 100 members of agrarian reform beneficiary organizations in San Andres became its first beneficiaries in the province.
At the time, DAR said farmers were raising concerns including the measurement of awarded land and the location of boundary markers or “mohon.”
Officials also warned beneficiaries about restrictions involving the sale, transfer, lease or other conveyance of certain rights over land obtained through the agrarian reform program.
The program subsequently reached other parts of MIMAROPA.
In July 2022, PIA reported that around 292 farmers in Roxas and Taytay, Palawan, received free legal assistance through the initiative.
By June 2024, DAR officials said the program had become one of the region’s mechanisms for addressing agrarian disputes. During one activity in Oriental Mindoro, roughly 150 people sought legal assistance, with concerns including boundary disputes and questions involving continued occupation of land.
The outreach continued in 2025.
More than 170 agrarian reform beneficiaries in Occidental Mindoro received free legal advice through the program, according to a February 2025 PIA report. Many came from communities far from the provincial DAR office, including areas in Sablayan and Mamburao.
Three months later, around 300 farmers in Sibuyan Island, Romblon, participated in another legal-assistance activity dealing with land tenure and agrarian justice concerns. The Public Attorney’s Office also participated.
Why Free Legal Help Matters Even After Farmers Get Their Land
Agrarian reform does not end when a farmer receives a title.
Questions can emerge over boundaries, competing claims, inheritance, possession, land transfers, documentation and the interpretation of agrarian laws.
DAR’s own Citizen’s Charter describes its legal-assistance mandate as providing qualified farmers, tenants, actual tillers and agrarian reform beneficiaries with legal assistance and, where applicable, representation before courts, quasi-judicial bodies and administrative agencies.
The assistance is intended to help farmers either assert their rights or defend themselves when those rights are challenged.
That broader legal mandate is particularly important because land conflicts remain an active issue in different parts of the country.
In January 2026, for example, DAR and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples moved to address overlapping claims involving agrarian reform areas and ancestral-domain applications in Zamboanga del Norte.
Officials said clarifying boundaries and land status was necessary to protect beneficiaries from displacement and prolonged uncertainty while also respecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples under existing law.
In another case, DAR launched an investigation into alleged irregularities involving more than 187 hectares of agrarian reform land in Capas, Tarlac that had originally been awarded to farmers in the 1990s.
Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III ordered authorities to examine the circumstances surrounding the transfer and conversion of the properties amid allegations of possible violations.
Those cases illustrate why a land title alone does not necessarily eliminate legal risk.
DAR Is Expanding the Same Idea Beyond MIMAROPA
The underlying strategy—bringing justice services closer to farmers—is also being used through other DAR initiatives.
BusinessMirror reported in September 2025 that DAR’s Agrarian Justice on Wheels program brought mobile legal services and on-site hearings to agrarian reform beneficiaries in Zamboanga del Norte.
The initiative allowed farmers to seek help involving tenancy, land tenure and other agrarian concerns without repeatedly traveling to distant venues for hearings or consultations.
The approach is similar to “Lawyers to the Benepisyaryo”: instead of assuming farmers can easily navigate the legal system, government legal personnel move closer to the communities where disputes are actually happening.
Land Titles, Debt Relief—and Legal Protection
The legal-assistance drive is also unfolding alongside a much larger government effort involving land ownership and agrarian debt.
In January 2026, DAR said more than 2,500 agrarian reform beneficiaries in MIMAROPA had received electronic land titles.
The agency also distributed 1,877 Certificates of Condonation with Release of Mortgage, wiping out about ₱45 million in land amortization debt for beneficiaries in the region.
More recently, the Philippine News Agency reported that DAR combined land-related assistance in Oriental Mindoro with the “Lawyers to the Benepisyaryo” initiative, allowing farmers to consult DAR lawyers directly about their land and legal rights.
That assistance came alongside approximately ₱18.2 million in agrarian debt condonation and agricultural support for beneficiaries.
Nationwide, DAR says legal assistance remains one of its core responsibilities alongside land-tenure security and beneficiary development.
The agency reported in March 2026 that its major programs include the Land Tenure Security Program, the Agrarian Justice Delivery Program, and programs intended to develop and sustain agrarian reform beneficiaries.
And after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s fifth State of the Nation Address in July 2026, DAR said it would continue accelerating land-title distribution, implementing the New Agrarian Emancipation Act and expanding support services for beneficiaries.
But Receiving Land Is Not the End of the Story
The numbers surrounding land distribution can be impressive.
Thousands of titles can be issued. Millions of pesos in debt can be cancelled. Farm machinery can be distributed.
But all of those gains become more fragile when farmers do not understand what they can legally do with their land—or what to do when somebody challenges their rights.
That is where programs such as “Lawyers to the Benepisyaryo” may have their greatest impact.
For a farmer several hours away from the nearest government office, access to a lawyer is not simply a matter of convenience.
It can mean knowing whether a disputed boundary is legitimate.
It can mean understanding whether a proposed land transaction is legal.
It can mean resolving a conflict before a family feud turns into years of litigation.
And in the most serious cases, it could mean the difference between keeping the land that sustains a family and losing control of it altogether.
For DAR, the challenge now goes beyond awarding farmland.
The bigger test is whether the government can make the rights attached to that land just as accessible—and just as secure—as the title itself.
Leave a Reply