Secretary Conrado M. Estrella III meeting with agrarian reform beneficiaries at the Manuel Y. Torres Memorial Coliseum and Cultural Center in Bago City on Thursday, July 3.* Bago PIO photo
A total of 11,179 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in Negros Occidental were freed of P1.8 billion in debts with the condonation of their mortgages, while 3,784 ARBs received titles to 4,683 hectares of land on Thursday, July 3.
Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado M. Estrella III led the distribution of the Certificates of Condonation with Release of Mortgage (COCROMs) and land titles to the ARBs, some of whom had waited 40 years, at rites held at the Manuel Y. Torres Memorial Coliseum and Cultural Center in Bago City, Negros Occidental.
The DAR distributed COCROMs to 11,179 ARBs tilling 8,860.15 hectares of land in Negros Occidental whose P1,834,357,395.70 in mortgages were condoned.
COCROMs are mandated under Republic Act No. 11953, known as the New Agrarian Emancipation Act. This law frees ARBs from debts, including unpaid amortizations, interests, and surcharges incurred under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
There were also 3,784 ARBs who received land titles to 4,883.8402 hectares.
There were 2,402 ARBs from Negros Occidental who received land titles to 2,720.694 hectares and 1,382 from Negros Oriental who were the recipients of 1,963 hectares.
The agrarian reform beneficiaries with Secretary Conrado M. Estrella III, Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer (Neg. Occ., 4th District), Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, Bago City Mayor Marina Javellana-Yao, Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District) and other DAR officials in Bago City on Thursday.*Richard Malihan photo
Estrella also led the ceremonial turnover of P5.6 million in farm machinery and equipment to ARB cooperatives.
Warlito Estelloso, 60, a farmer from Brgy Yubo, La Carlota City, said he waited 40 years to receive an individual title to his 1.4693 hectares and he is thankful that it has finally happened.
Ernesto Natuel, 80, of Brgy. Cabatangan, Talisay City, also said he waited 32 years for his land title.
In 1993, he and other farmers were granted a collective Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA). It took three decades for him to receive his individual CLOA or e-title.
He said the release of his individual title will bring a huge change in his life. Finally, he will be the full owner of the land he has worked hard for his entire life, he said.
It will give him peace of mind, security, and the ability to pass on his property without any doubts. This is proof that his hard work and waiting were not in vain, Natuel said.
For Natuel it is not just the end of a long wait, it is the beginning of a new chapter where his land ownership is complete, and his dream is fully realized.
Estrella said the marching orders of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is for the DAR to complete the distribution of land to the agrarian reform beneficiaries before his term ends.
The president has directed them to ensure that government as a whole, and not just DAR, helps the ARBs, he said.
That means assistance will not just be farm machineries, equipment and roads, but financial support, additional jobs to augment their incomes, health care, scholarships for their children and opportunities to work abroad, he said.
He said with the opening of the DAR regional office in the Negros Island Region the needs of the ARBs in Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor can be better addressed.
Estrella was joined at the Bago distribution rites by Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer (Neg. Occ., 4th District), Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District), and Bago City Mayor Marina Javellana-Yao.
Javellana-Yao said the distribution of the land titles to the ARBs was a ”celebration of empowerment and love”.*