Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones on Friday told new landowners to join farmers’ cooperatives or agrarian reform beneficiaries organizations so they could receive more government assistance.
Speaking before 1,006 farmers from Mindanao who received certificates of land ownership award in Zamboanga City, he called on the farmer-beneficiaries to avail of the Department of Agrarian Reform’s support services.
He led the distribution of CLOAs, saying the work of DAR does not end in the distribution of lands alone.
The agency also provides support services to enable farmer beneficiaries to manage their lands better, he said.
Some of the beneficiaries who waited for over two decades to own the land, including the 68-year-old Cesario Cielo, lauded the agrarian reform agency “for finding ways to distribute the land to us.”
Castriciones said the Land Bank of the Philippines is offering an accessible and sustainable lending program to enable farmers to avail of a loan up to P50,000 to buy farm inputs with annual interest of only at 6 percent.
He, however, warned the beneficiaries not to sell or mortgage the lands awarded by the government or risk losing the land being charged according to law.