LAND TITLES. Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Sec. John Castriciones underscores the importance of land ownership for Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries during an interview in Davao City Friday evening, where he and President Rodrigo Duterte led the distribution of 58,000 Certificates of Land Ownership Award to beneficiaries from different parts of Mindanao. (Photo by Che Palicte)
DAVAO CITY--A total of 58,387 Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) were distributed by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) from the five regions of Mindanao on Friday evening here.
The CLOAs benefited 60,233 ARBs covering 102,727 hectares, said Secretary John Castriciones, who added that the distribution was pursuant to President Rodrigo Duterte's directive that ARBs in Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP)-covered lands should be provided with titles.
“With the titles given, it would allow our farmers to be more empowered,” Castriciones said.
Based on DAR data, about 208,895 Emancipation Patent (EP) are being kept by Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) that will soon be given out all over the country, covering more than 354,783 hectares and would benefit 200,710 ARBs.
DAR also distributed 1,361 CLOAs to 1,709 ARBs in Davao Region, involving a total of 1,452 hectares of lands acquired and distributed to them.
Moreover, LBP said it seeks to pursue a more focused and direct approach in lending to provide more ARBs and individual small farmers with access to credit.
Castriciones said Landbank put in place a PHP5-billion direct lending program called Accessible Funds For Delivery to ARB’s or (AFFORD-ARBs), which will specifically cater to ARBs engaged in rice, corn, and high-value crops production.
“This will further give assistance to our farmers. If they availed this loan, it will be payable in one year with only six percent interest,” Castriciones said.
“The awarding of titles to the recipient farmer-beneficiaries is the penultimate step towards the completion of the implementation of the CARP,” he added.
The next phase, he said, would be for the government to render support services to ARBs through the provision of capability development training and common service facilities, with a vision to optimize the potential to market their produce to the public.
“I hope they will take good care of what the government gave them. We remind them not to sell or pawn their acquired titles,” the DAR chief said. (PNA)
