A total of 1,562 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in Negros Occidental received land titles, while 1,880 others were recipients of almost P70 million in support services during the distribution rites of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) yesterday, led by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. and Secretary Conrado Estrella III in Negros Occidental’s Bago City.
Aside from distributing new land titles, the DAR also released individual land titles to 1,235 existing ARBs, who are holders of collective certificates of land ownership awards (CCLOAs), under the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling or Project SPLIT.
“Ang ating pagtitipon dito sa Bago City ay patunay na ang inyong pamahalaan, sa pangunguna ng DAR, ay hindi tumitigil sa pagtupad ng aming pangako na mamahagi ng mga lupang sakahan sa ating mga benepisyaryo,” Marcos said in his message before thousands of farmer-beneficiaries at Manuel Y. Torres Memorial Coliseum and Cultural Center.
The President noted that the nearly 5,000 land titles given out are part of the more than 11,000 titles that will be distributed this year to farmer-beneficiaries in Negros Occidental.
“Sa ating mga ARBs, ma-ituturing po kayong mga buhay na bayani ng ating panahon. Kayo ang sandigan namin upang masiguro na sapat na pagkain sa hapag ng bawat pamilyang Pilipino,” he added.
For new lands, 951 ARBs in Negros Occidental 1 (North) received 1,744 CLOAs covering 725.7328 hectares, while 611 ARBs in Negros Occidental 2 (South) were given 942 CLOAs for 455.8997 hectares.
Under the Project SPLIT, 600 ARBs in Negros Occidental 1 were recipients of 1,084 individual CLOAs covering 700.6 hectares while 635 ARBs in Negros Occidental 2 received 954 individual land titles covering 668.1618 hectares.
Support services for Negros Occidental 1 were given to six ARB organizations (ARBOs) with 271 members in the form of farm machinery and equipment worth P6.174 million.
Some P59 million in bridge and farm-to-market road projects in the cities of Bacolod and Talisay are also benefiting 750 individuals, of whom 51 are ARBs.
For Negros Occidental 2, some 859 ARBs from 13 ARBOs are beneficiaries of organic fertilizer and farm machinery and equipment worth more than P3.994 million.
In his message, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said that Negros Occidental, as a predominantly agricultural province, puts a prime on developing agriculture and uplifting the lives of farmers.
“The distribution of thousands of CLOAs, covering thousands of hectares of land, to thousands of Negrense ARBs, along with support services, marks a significant step towards our goal of improving the socio-economic conditions of our farmers and the overall political development of the Philippines,” he added. (PNA)