NEW LAND OWNER. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. congratulates a farmer from Samar province who received his individual land title during a ceremony at the Tacloban City Convention Center on Monday (May 20, 2024). The Chief Executive led the distribution of 5,438 titles during the occasion. (Screengrab from RTVM)
TACLOBAN CITY – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said his administration will finish the land distribution program within his term to fulfill a 30-year promise of giving farmers a sense of ownership.
The President, who led the distribution of 5,438 titles at the Tacloban City Convention Center on Monday, said he is making sure that the promise of agrarian reform is fulfilled in the whole country.
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has distributed more than 15,000 hectares of land to over 9,000 beneficiaries nationwide this year.
The goal is to give more than 20,000 hectares of land before the year ends.
“Kaya naman inatasan ko at sinabihan ko ang Department of Agrarian Reform na pag-ibayuhin ang kanilang mga programa tulad ng Project SPLIT o Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling upang maibigay na agad ang lupa sa lahat ng kwalipikadong benepisyaryo (That is why I tasked and told the Department of Agrarian Reform to improve their programs such as Project SPLIT o Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling so that land could be given at once to all the qualified beneficiaries),” Marcos said.
SPLIT Project expedites the subdivision of CLOAs providing individual land titles to agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) who were previously granted land through collective ownership.
In Eastern Visayas alone, about 5,906 ARBs stand to benefit from this undertaking, signifying the government's commitment to ensure that the farmers receive legal ownership of the land they till.
The titles distributed here cover 7,914 hectares of lands in several towns in the provinces of Leyte, Biliran, Southern Leyte, Western Samar, Eastern Samar, and Northern Samar.
Of the 5,438 land titles, 5,400 are electronic titles issued under SPLIT, and 38 certificates of landownership award (CLOAs) under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
“Para sa nakakararami sa inyo, ito ang katuparan ng inyong matagal nang pangarap – Ang pangarap na nakapangalan at nakarehistro na sa inyo ang titulo ng lupa na idineklara ng ilang dekada pa sa inyo na dapat alagaan at para sa inyong pagsaka. Ang pangarap na paunlarin ang kalupaan upang mas magkaroon ng sagana at magandang ani (For many of you, this is the fulfillment of your long-time dream – the dream of having the land title named after you and registered in your name after being declared for several decades for you to take care of and for your farming),” the President said.
Domingo Padao, 79, of Igang village in Calubian, Leyte turned emotional that 23 years of waiting for his individual land title had ended.
“I am very happy that land is legally mine. With the help of my children, I can make this land more productive,” he said.
During the event, the President also distributed PHP509.45 million worth of support services interventions to ARB organizations and communities such as farm-to-market roads, PBBM bridges (Pang-Agraryong Tulay para sa Bagong Bayanihan ng mga Magsasaka), irrigation projects and farm machinery.
About PHP350 million worth of farm-to-market roads were also turned over to the towns of Leyte, Eastern Samar, and Southern Leyte.
Four bridge projects worth PHP78.172 million, were turned over to Southern Leyte, Calbayog City, and Eastern Samar.
Around PHP71 million, comprising four irrigation facilities were entrusted to the provinces of Northern Samar, Bilian, and Southern Leyte.
Farmers' groups from Biliran, Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, Samar, Southern Leyte, and Leyte received various farm machinery and equipment worth PHP10.28 million.
"Some of our farmers waited for 20 to 30 years. That's why the President instructed us to fast track the distribution of land titles. We are also giving support services to help improve the lives of farmers," DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III said.
President Marcos said his late father started the agrarian reform program in the 1970s with then DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella, the grandfather of the current DAR chief.
He said the distribution of CLOAs and land titles also showed the administration’s affirmation to strengthen farmers’ rights and protect their welfare under Republic Act 11953, or the New Agrarian Emancipation Act.
This law, he said, would free ARBs from their debts. (PNA)
The Philippine News Agency is a web-based newswire service of the Philippine government under the supervision of the News and Information Bureau (NIB) of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO).