Agrarian reform beneficiaries Neptali Martin (right) and Diosdado Gonzales posed for souvenir after receiving their much-awaited land title.
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) led by Secretary John R. Castriciones handed to farmers their Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs), each covering three hectares. last Friday July 3, 2020, in Barangay Mabayo, Morong, Bataan. Besides the farmlots, each of them was also awarded with homelots. “This is to show the government’s sincerity of bringing to the people its services wherever they are,” said Castriciones.
Earlier, the DAR chief went house-to-house and to as far as the farms of farmer-beneficiaries to hand to them their CLOAs, which he described as the symbol of new hope and the redemption of their dignity and freedom from bondage. Gonzales, 63, and Martin, 62, were among the 20 beneficiaries who received their CLOAs, covering 31.3 hectares of agricultural land.
The DAR chief urged the farmer-beneficiaries: “Make your newly acquired farmlots more productive. Don’t sell or pawn them.” Martin promised that he would harness his farm, which, he said, his family has been tilling since his birth. He said: “Kung buhay lang ang aking ina, natitiyak kong ikatutuwa niya ang pagkakaloob ninyo sa akin ng titulo bilang patutoo na akin na nga ang lupang aking sinasaka. Hinding-hindi rin siya papayag na ibenta ito.” Gonzales said in between sobs: “Minsan man hindi sumagi sa isip ko na mapapasaakin ang lupang aking sinasaka. Maraming salamat sa DAR at nagkaroon ng katuparan ang matagal ko nang pangarap.”
DAR Undersecretary Emily Padilla handed each beneficiary a bonus of sort — a bag of planting materials, comprising of vegetable seeds, pesticide and four seedling trays and a sack of fertilizer, all for free under the PaSSOver: ARBold Move to Heal as One for Deliverance of our ARBs from the Covid 19, or ARBold Move, for brevity. The same bags of farm inputs, each cost P2,166, were distributed to 107 farmer-beneficiaries as part of the government’s effort to enlist them in pursuit of its “Food Sufficiency Program.”
Padilla also encouraged them to join or form a farmers’ organization to enable them to avail themselves of various government support service under the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) where a total of P2.5 billion is appropriated for the full insurance coverage for crops, livestock, fisheries, or non-crop agricultural asset.
Agrarian reform beneficiary Anthony delos Reyes flashes a hearty smile after receiving his Certificate of Land Ownership Award from Secretary Castriciones.
