Farmers in Misamis Occidental got an early Christmas gift as the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) recently distributed a total of 1,382 hectares of agricultural lands to 1,469 agrarian reform beneficiaries.

DAR Undersecretary for Field Operations Jose Grageda said that some 755 awarded Certificates of Landownership Awards (CLOAs) covered different municipalities of the province.

Grageda told the new landowners that government’s support for the farmers under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) does not end in the distribution of lands, there are also various support services to further boost their economic lives.

“The DAR, Department Of Agriculture (DA), the Land Bank of the Philippines and other CARP-implementing agencies coordinate with each other to ensure that program beneficiaries will have a better life after receiving their land titles,” Grageda said.

Grageda further stated that the department is following a method wherein simultaneously with the processing of the CLOA, different support services would also be facilitated such as agrarian credit from Land Bank, agri-extension from DA, farm machineries from DAR and other assistance that will help strengthen the farmer beneficiaries and their cooperatives.

The CLOA distribution was done on the occasion of the 85th Provincial Anniversary Celebration of Misamis Occidental. (Pinkyroque/R-10/11.12)