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September 1, 2009

 

DAR MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 11-09

TO                :     All Regional Directors, Provincial Agrarian Reform Officers, Municipal Agrarian Reform Officers and Others Concerned

SUBJECT    :     Implementing Policies and Guidelines on the Profiling of One Million ARBs Under the ARB Database System

I.          Introduction

In line with the efforts of the Department to establish the database on the status of the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) and their whereabouts and to provide the Philippine Congress with the data requirement on the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), particularly its effect on ARBs, the Department shall now operationalize the Profiling of One Million ARBs under the ARB Carding and ID System Project now called ARB Database System Project.    CHTcSE

The Department intends to undertake the said database system enhancement with the profiling of one million ARBs consisting of 700,000 ARBs in Agrarian Reform Communities (ARCs) and 300,000 ARBs outside ARCs.

The project has two major components. First is the profiling itself which involves the conduct of interviews and surveys to generate data pertaining to the ARBs' basic personal profile, information on the lands awarded to them particularly on their status of cultivation or farming activities, and their economic conditions. The second component is the processing of the generated ARB profiles to include data encoding into the Data Entry System (DES) designed for the project, uploading of the data to DAR Central Office and the generation of reports.

Considering the limited time and personnel complement of the Department for the interview/survey and data gathering to complete the ARB profiles, this component was outsourced to a competent research institution, the Berkman International, Inc., in association with Certeza Infosys, Inc., which was qualified and chosen to undertake the same through the DAR Bids and Awards Committee (BAC). The Contractor shall provide trained and adequate staff complement as well as facility to speed up the data gathering and shall coordinate with the Regional, Provincial and Municipal Agrarian Reform Offices in undertaking their required tasks.    IETCAS

In order to ensure the attainment of the objectives and targets as well as successful implementation of the project, this Memorandum Circular is hereby issued to outline the guidelines, roles and functions of the DAR offices and the coordinating mechanisms.

II.        Objectives

The overall objective of the activity is to establish a database of ARBs' profiles, providing information on the status of their awarded lands, their land ownership as well as their socio-economic condition. This information will be used by DAR and other stakeholders in policy and program development, advocacy, resource allocation and monitoring of program interventions.

The specific objectives are the following:

1.         Establish the basis for determining the status of program beneficiaries based on the initial target of one million ARBs proposed to be profiled in terms of ownership of the land awarded, status of cultivation, income and productivity, and access to support services;    TaDCEc

2.         Establish and maintain database of ARB profiles at all levels (index card at MARO level and automated database using the DES from DARPO to DARCO which can be accessed by the DARRO);

3.         Ensure proper downloading and uploading of ARB profiles by providing the appropriate logistic support; i.e., computer equipment/units use for database of ARBs, digital cameras, etc.;

4.         Generate and package management report and advocacy materials.

III.       Coverage

The profiling shall cover ARBs who have been issued, individually or collectively, duly registered Emancipation Patents (EPs) and Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs).

IV.       Expected Outputs    CIaASH

The engagement with Berkman International, Inc. as the Project Contractor, required the latter to produce complete and accurate profiles of one (1) million ARBs transferred into the Index Card and acceptable by the DES. For this purpose, Berkman International, Inc. is expected to profile at least 10,850 ARBs per day, using the LAD-ARB Carding Data Gathering Form No. 1-A, to complete the One Million ARBs in four months and one week (17 weeks), of which the actual profiling shall be 14 weeks. Below is the target for the 14-week data gathering of ARB profiles.

 

 

  Week Number of  Number of  ARB
    ARBs/Day Days Profiles/
        Week
         
  1 10,850 7 75,950
  2 10,850 7 75,950
  3 10,850 7 75,950
  4 10,850 7 75,950
  5 10,850 7 75,950
  6 10,850 7 75,950
  7 10,850 7 75,950
  8 10,850 7 75,950
  9 10,850 7 75,950
  10 10,850 7 75,950
  11 10,850 7 75,950
  12 10,850 7 75,950
  13 10,850 7 75,950
  14 10,850 7 12,650
        ––––––––
  Total     1,000,000
        ========

On the part of the DAR, the filled-out LAD-ARB Carding Data Gathering Form per ARB shall be reviewed and verified by the MARO or his/her designated or authorized DAR Municipal Office Staff before the same information is transferred into the Index Card or the LAD-ARB Carding Form No. 1. It is very crucial that the MARO shall be able to match the performance of the Contractor in terms of reviewing and verifying the profiles submitted by the latter.

V.        Obligations, Duties and Functions of the Contractor

The Contractor shall gather information on one million ARBs in ARCs and non-ARCs nationwide. In cases where the original EP/CLOA holders are no longer in actual possession of the awarded lands, the same shall be replaced from the buffer totaling two hundred fifty thousand (250,000) ARBs or twenty five (25) percent of the one million ARBs to complete the target for the engagement.

 

In view of this, the following activities shall be undertaken in close coordination with the concerned DAR units/offices:

1.         Test run of the existing ARB Carding Data Gathering Form 1-A

            This activity involves the actual profiling of at least two (2) ARBs from ARC and/or one ARB from non-ARC areas and the interview of field implementers who were involved in the profiling of ARBs using the ARB Carding Data Gathering Form 1-A. This will be one of the "must do" activities to be undertaken by the research institution in order to familiarize itself with the content and process of generating the profiles of ARBs. The result shall be the basis in designing the interview guide for Enumerators, specifically in posing questions on sensitive issues. This is done to ensure common understanding of the information to be gathered.    cSHATC

2.         Design the Survey Questionnaire based on the ARB Carding Data Gathering Form 1-A

            To generate common information on specific data sets, the existing data gathering form shall be translated into a survey questionnaire to ensure that Enumerators will not be put in a situation that will force them to make arbitrary decisions on specific data sets to be asked from the respondents.

            Moreover, the interview guide used by the Enumerators shall be translated into the eight (8) major dialects spoken by majority of the Filipinos for easy understanding: Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicolano, Waray, Pampango, Pangasinense, and other dialects as needed.

            In addition, definition of terms included in the existing guide on HOW TO FILL-OUT THE DATA GATHERING FORMS shall be enhanced to aid the Enumerators in understanding the required data sets.    ECDaTI

3.         Selection and Hiring of Municipal Supervisors and Enumerators

            It shall be the responsibility of the Contractor to select and hire 485 Municipal Supervisors and 1,515 Enumerators based on the defined qualification in the Project's Terms of Reference (Annex "A"). Municipal Agrarian Reform Officers (MAROs) and Provincial Agrarian Reform Officers (PAROs) may recommend applicants subject to the qualification criteria provided in the TOR.

4.         Train Municipal Supervisors and Enumerators

            The Contractor shall prepare the design and conduct the training for their own Enumerators and Municipal Supervisors before they are deployed to the field. The training shall focus on the discussion of the tools and processes in data gathering activity/field work including the use of area map for familiarization on the ARCs/municipalities to be visited. Administrative concerns shall also be discussed. The participants will also be taught on how to ask appropriate questions, particularly on sensitive issues (e.g., if the land had been sold, etc.).    ECTSDa

5.         Deploy adequate staff (Enumerators and Municipal Supervisors) based on the proposed staff requirement per municipality/provinces

5.1       A total of 1,515 Enumerators and 485 Municipal Supervisors will be deployed for the profiling of one million ARBs. They will be provided with data gathering kit which includes interview guide, area map, list of ARB respondents, pencil and prepaid cell phone card.

5.2       The data gathering/field work activity will require each enumerator to finish a minimum of 8 profiles per day for ARCs and 5 profiles per day for non-ARCs. The number of profiles to be completed per enumerator per day is higher than the non-ARCs because there are more ARBs in ARCs. The Enumerators shall ensure total enumeration or profile all ARBs in the ARC or barangay before transferring to another area.    THaDAE

5.3       The Municipal Supervisors shall be responsible for the following:

        Supervise Enumerators and handle two (2) municipalities;

        Ensure that the Enumerators strictly follow the designed guide and tools for profiling;

        Conduct spot monitoring/interview with selected ARBs at least 2% of those already profiled by the Enumerators to validate the information gathered. For this purpose the Contractor shall draw up its design on how to conduct the validation;

        Review the correctness (e.g., units of land measurement, production and income) and completeness of each LAD-ARB Carding Form 1-A before its official submission to the MARO for final review and validation and to the DARPO for encoding. Likewise, s/he shall review and edit each filled-out questionnaire to ensure the completeness and accuracy of data generated. The submission to the MARO, however, per ARC or per barangay shall be programmed so that the MARO will not be overloaded and will have enough time to review the profiles submitted first before another batch is submitted.    SaIEcA

        Ensure the completion of required number of ARB profiles per day in their area of operation;

        Ensure that 100% of the edited/verified ARB profiles have been officially transmitted to DARPO, on a weekly basis, for processing/encoding;

        In case the EP/CLOA holders (ARBs) in the masterlist or his/her immediate farm household are no longer in actual possession of the awarded land or the ARBs can no longer be located and the profiles cannot be completely filled out, the incomplete profiles shall be submitted by the Municipal Supervisor to the Consultant's Central Project Management Team, who shall in turn submit the same to the Chair of the DAR-Project Technical Working Group (PTWG) or Project Implementing Team (PIT).    ESITcH

5.4       The Enumerators shall be responsible for the following:

        Interview ARB respondents using the Interview Guide in filling out LAD-ARB Carding Form 1-A (Data Gathering Form);

        Take the pictures of the ARB respondents using the digital camera provided under the Project and submit the digital files to the Municipal Supervisor;

        Submit the completed data gathering form or ARB profiles to the Municipal Supervisor together with a summary thereof indicating the name of ARBs, address and the date the profiles and ARB photographs were taken; and

        Transfer the reviewed and verified LAD-ARB Carding Form 1-A into the LAD-ARB Carding Form 1 (index card) that will be left to the MAROs for the establishment of the ARB database at the municipal level;    aSTcCE

6.         Creation of a Project Management Office

            The Contractor shall create its Central Project Management Office (CPMO) which shall be responsible in over-seeing the operations and implementation of the engagement. It shall closely coordinate with the DAR Project Implementing Team (PIT) created for the purpose and shall be responsible in ensuring the submission of the progress/terminal reports to the DAR PIT as indicated in the Project's Terms of Reference.

VI.       Responsibilities of the Different DAR Offices

The Contractor shall coordinate its field activities with the respective DAR Regional, Provincial and Municipal Offices. The following are the roles and functions of the DAR field offices:

1.         DAR Municipal Office

           The MARO or his/her authorized representative shall work in close coordination with the Municipal Supervisor/Enumerator deployed in his/her area of jurisdiction. There shall be at least one Enumerator to be deployed in each municipality. Where necessary, the MARO shall assist the Enumerator in locating the ARBs covered by the project.    STIcEA

           The MARO or his/her authorized representative shall review and validate the completeness and correctness of the LAD-ARB Carding Data Gathering Form submitted by the Contractor's Municipal Supervisors. After which, the MARO shall affix his/her signature on the appropriate box in the ARB Carding Form, after the same is initialed by the reviewer other than the MARO, before submission by the Municipal Supervisor of the ARB profiles to the DARPO.

           The MARO or his/her authorized representative shall not be allowed to change/alter any information generated without the consent of the assigned Enumerators. The MARO shall only determine the appropriateness of information generated based on the data requirements specified in the data gathering form.

           The MARO or his/her authorized representative shall issue Certificate of Acceptance for those reviewed and verified ARB profiles that will be submitted to the DARPO and shall also ensure that the information in the ARB profiles were properly transferred into the Index Card.    HSIaAT

            In instances where the MARO finds error or discrepancies in the generated and submitted ARB profiles, the same shall be returned to the Municipal Supervisor indicating therein the errors/discrepancies for proper correction.

           Incidental expenses incurred by the MARO or his/her authorized representative in the activity shall be charged to DAR funds.

2.         DAR Provincial Office

           Shall generate and make available the following: a) updated masterlist of ARBs based on the EP/CLOAIS, and b) location/sketch map of subject area for profiling activity through the DARPO Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit (PMEU). These documents shall be provided to the Project Contractor before they commence the activity.

           Shall identify priority areas for profiling activities and generate a masterlist of their targeted ARBs. The targeting should consider the total enumeration of ARBs in ARCs and non-ARCs. The list should include additional list equivalent to 25 percent of the ARBs in the masterlist to cover replacements for unavailable respondents.    ACTISD

           Shall schedule the uploading of the digital files of the photographs taken by the Enumerators. For this purpose, a provincial staff shall be designated to upload the said digital files at the DARPOs.

           Shall print the ARB pictures, not necessarily in photo paper, that will be attached to the LAD-ARB ID Data Gathering Forms 1 and 1-A.

           Shall determine the Contractor's compliance on the validation of at least 2% of the already profiled ARBs and issue Certificate of Acceptance on the same.

           The PARO shall assign DARPO staff, in addition to the DARPO programmers, to undertake the following:

o          review and encode the generated ARB profiles from the LAD-ARB Carding form 1-A into the Data Entry System.

            Should the DARPO finds further error/discrepancy or missing data elements on the ARB profiles that will result to a rejection by the DES of the same, the rejected profiles shall be returned by the PARO to the Municipal Supervisor for appropriate correction notwithstanding the Certificates of Acceptance already issued by the MARO, and;    ATICcS

o          review and ensure the correctness (owner of the picture, size and resolution) of each photo attached to the appropriate profile, before submitting it to DARCO through the online DES;

o          process and generate reports from the DES.

3.         DAR Regional Office

            The DARRO, through the Office of the Assistant Regional Director for Operations, shall:

           supervise ARB profiling activities in their covered provinces. It shall conduct strategic spot monitoring at the DARPO and DARMO to determine the regularity and appropriateness of project implementation;

           review/checking of the uploaded ARB profiles to the DARCO-MIS through the online DES to validate reports of the DARPOs and determine correctness of the photos attached to the appropriate profiles.    cEHITA

VII.     Implementing Mechanism

The Project Steering Committee (PSC) created under DAR Administrative Order No. 3, S. of 2008 shall still exercise over-all direction and policy decision making in the implementation of the Profiling of One (1) Million ARBs. The Regional Project Management Committee and the Provincial Project Management Committee created under DAR A.O. 3, S. of 2008 shall be reactivated to ensure that all requirements for the Project shall be followed at all levels. They shall complement the DARCO Project Implementing Teams (DARCO PIT) and shall have the same functions thereof as that of the DARCO PIT.

At the DARCO level, the composition and functions of the ARB Carding and ID System, now called ARB Database System, Technical Working Group (TWG) created pursuant to Special Order No. 602, Series of 2008 is expanded to compose the Project Implementing Team (PIT):

 

  Project Manager: Assistant Secretary, Field Operations
    Office
  Deputy Project Manager for Director III, Management
       Database Management: Information Service
  Deputy Project Manager for Director IV, Bureau of Land
       Operations: Acquisition and Distribution
  Project Point Person for Director IV, Finance Administration
       Finance: and Management Service

 

The Project Manager (PM) shall supervise the implementation of the Project and shall be the authorized DAR representative and/or authorized medium of communication between the DAR and the Contractor, to whom the profiling project was awarded, on all matters relating to the Works and Services under the Project Contract. He shall ensure that the purpose and objectives of the Project are fully attained in accordance with the Project's Terms of Reference and Work Plan.

The Deputy Project Manager for Database Management (DPMDM) shall ensure that all the required systems, hardware and software, are fully installed, maintained and monitored. He shall also be responsible in the consolidation and generation of national reports related to the ARB profiles.

The Deputy Project Manager for Operations (DPMO) shall attend to the operationalization of the profiling activities and ensure that all coordinative arrangement with the Project Contractor, as well as implementing mechanisms, particularly policies, guidelines and instructions are put in place down to the DAR field level.    ASHICc

The Project Point Person for Finance shall ensure that the financial requirements as well as other related financial concerns pertaining to the project are attended to accordingly.

To provide technical support to the Project Manager and the Deputy Project Managers, four (4) Project Teams with geographical assignments were created, as follows:

1.         Team I (Regions CAR, I, II, and III)

2.         Team II (Regions IV-A, IV-B, V and VI)

3.         Team III (Regions VII, VIII, IX and X)

4.         Team IV (Regions XI, XII, XIII and ARMM)

The Project Teams are headed by a Project Team Leader and shall have the following functions:

1.         Provide technical assistance to the Project Contractor as resource persons in the conduct of project orientations, workshops and trainings for the enumerators and municipal supervisors;    HAEIac

2.         Conduct strategic monitoring of the Contractor's compliance to the project's Terms of Reference in the conduct of profiling activities including the DAR field offices' compliance to the ARB Profiling Operations Manual;

3.         Conduct validation of ARB profiles together with the Municipal Supervisors;

4.         Review project accomplishment and progress report submitted by the Project Contractor vis-à-vis reports submitted by DAR field offices and submit recommendations thereof;

5.         Provide strategic interventions and technical assistance to DAR field offices on the profiling activities and on the Data Entry System; and

6.         Prepare reports on the progress of project implementation.

The Project Secretariat under Special Order No. 602, S. of 2008 shall likewise act as the PIT Secretariat with modification to include other personnel as members thereof.    TDCAIS

VIII.    Funding and Logistical Support

Appropriate funds shall be allocated and downloaded to the Regional and Provincial office to cover the cost of undertaking the following specific activities:

           Review and validation of the ARBs' profiles by the MAROs or their authorized representative prior to issuance of Certificate of Acceptance;

           Review of the profiles at the DARPO prior to encoding of the same into the DES;

           Review, editing and printing of ARB pictures by the DARPO;

           Hiring of additional DARPO Encoders and rent of additional computers, if necessary;

           Supervision cost by the Regional Directors.

Equipment support like cameras to be used in taking photographs of the ARBs as well as desktop computers and web services shall be issued and installed at the DARPOs to facilitate the encoding of the ARB profiles into the DES and uploading of the same to the DARCO-MIS.    cEHITA

IX.       Reporting and Monitoring

1.         Monitoring of project implementation shall be centered on the DARPO/DARRO/DARCO Project Technical Working Group or Project Implementing Teams. Efforts shall be exerted to validate reports and accomplishments submitted by the Contractor and by the MAROs and PAROs through periodic meetings, field level monitoring, review and assessment of project implementation.

2.         The DARCO Project Implementing Teams, the Regional Directors and the Provincial Agrarian Reform Officers shall ensure that the processes undertaken in generating the ARB profiles are in accordance with the Project's Terms of Reference and of this Memorandum Circular.

3.         The MARO, DARPO-PMEU, DARRO-Planning Division and DARCO-MIS shall maintain an ARB database at their respective levels.

4.         The DARCO-MIS shall provide timely and appropriate technical assistance to the DARPOs related to database management and maintenance. The DARCO-MIS shall also be responsible in data consolidation and generation of national reports.    ECDHIc

5.         The MAROs shall submit weekly accomplishment report in terms of number of ARB profiles reviewed, verified and accepted and the corresponding number of index cards received from the Contractor's Municipal Supervisors using the ARB Profiling Monitoring form No. 1. The same report shall be submitted to the DARPO for validation and shall be noted by the PARO.

6.         Likewise, the DARPO-PMEU shall submit to DARCO-PTWG/PIT, copy furnished DARCO-MIS, monthly accomplishment report duly noted and certified correct by the PARO and the Regional Director, on ARB profiles reviewed, encoded and uploaded using ARB Profiling Monitoring Form No. 2.

7.         To ensure achievement of the objectives of this project, ARB profiling targets and outputs shall be included in the Performance Contracts of the Director of MIS, Regional Directors and Provincial Agrarian Reform Officers. It shall also be included in the System Performance Evaluation and Employee Development (SPEED) of DARRO and DARPO staff involved as well as those of the MAROs.    AEIDTc

X.        Effectivity

This Memorandum Circular shall take effect immediately upon approval and shall remain in force unless modified or repealed accordingly.

September 1, 2009, Diliman, Quezon City.

(SGD.) NASSER C. PANGANDAMAN
Secretary

ATTACHMENT

Republic of the Philippines

Department of Agrarian Reform

Monitoring Form

Municipality of ____________

ARB Profiling Form # 1
Profiling of 1 Million ARB Project
Region/Province: ________________


Republic of the Philippines

Department of Agrarian Reform

Province ____________

ARB Profiling Monitoring Form # 2
Profiling of 1 Million ARB Project


Republic of the Philippines

Department of Agrarian Reform

Region ____________

ARB Profiling Monitoring Form # 3
Profiling of 1 Million ARB Project

 



CONTACT INFORMATION

Department of Agrarian Reform
Elliptical Road, Diliman
Quezon City, Philippines
Tel. No.: (632) 928-7031 to 39

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