A TOTAL of 921 farmers, including an aged couple who have been farming as tenants of a small land, received their certificate of land ownership awards (CLOAs) from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) during a simple ceremony held in Carigara, Leyte on December 8.
The distribution was led by DAR Undersecretary for Field Operations Office Karlo S. Bello together with Director Leomides R. Villareal of the Public Assistance and Media Relations Service, DAR Region 8 Officer in Charge (OIC) Regional Director Maria Fe Malinao and Leyte OIC Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II Renato G. Badilla.
The total land area covered by the distribution is 941 hectares in the municipalities of Barugo, Jaro and San Miguel in Leyte.
During the event, Bello encouraged the agrarian-reform beneficiaries (ARBs) to strengthen their organizations for the provision of support programs and services. He also reminded the new CLOA holders that selling, transferring or leasing the lands awarded to them is prohibited by law.
President Duterte has mandated the DAR to fast-track the distribution of lands and the delivery of support services to ARBs.
On December 1 Duterte named DAR Acting Secretary John Castriciones as the new DAR chief. The land-distribution in Leyte was the first under Castriciones’s term.
The DAR has intensified CLOA distribution and the provision of support services to ARBs in the country in support of Duterte’s campaign promise to free the farmers from tenancy and emancipate them from poverty.
Included among those awarded lands were 84-year-old Dulcesimo Sotto and his 82-year-old wife Soledad of Barangay Bahay, San Miguel.
Sotto said he has been farming since 1948, the only work and source of income that supports his family for years.
Juanita Colango, 87, from Brangay Macanip, Jaro, Leyte is among the oldest recipients during the CLOA distribution.
Data provided by Malinao showed 132 ARBs from the town of Barugo received their CLOAs covering a total of 80.8364 hectares; 226 ARBs with 237.6131 hectares from Jaro; and 563 ARBs with 623.1346 hectares from San Miguel.
The awarding of the CLOAs was witnessed by Leo Pruel, who represented the local government unit of Cariraga.