Around 4,000 agrarian reform beneficiaries in Negros Oriental are set to receive land ownership titles this month, including 93 former members of the New People’s Army (NPA) who voluntarily surrendered to the government.
Manuel Galon, provincial agrarian reform officer of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in the province, said on Tuesday, Nov. 10, that the distribution aims to strengthen land ownership and provide greater opportunities for beneficiaries to improve their livelihoods.
Galon said the 93 former rebels (FRs) are beneficiaries of a socialized housing project in Basay town.
“These FRs are the identified beneficiaries of a socialized housing project undertaken by the Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (TF-ELCAC) in Barangay Bongalonan in Basay,” he said.
Under the initiative, they will receive 13 hectares of agricultural land, alongside a housing project worth PHP100 million, supported by the local government unit.
The ceremonial distribution of Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs), together with the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries’ Organizations (ARBOs) and Barangay Agrarian Reform Committee (BARC) Summit, is scheduled for Nov. 26 at the Lamberto Macias Sports Center in Dumaguete City.
DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella is expected to attend the event, while President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. may participate virtually, Galon said.
More than 6,000 agrarian reform beneficiaries from across the Negros Island Region covering Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental and Siquijor, are expected to take part in the activity.
Aside from the CLOAs, the DAR will also distribute electronic titles and land ownership documents under Project SPLIT (Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling), a flagship program of the department funded by the World Bank.
The initiative seeks to provide individual land titles to qualified agrarian reform beneficiaries, further strengthening their rights and security of land ownership.*PNA
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