Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado M. Estrella III has led the awarding of 1,073 land titles to 1,053 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) covering 1,170 hectares of agricultural lands from Central Luzon.
Estrella, together with Senators Imee Marcos and Francis Tolentino, said the activity held Thursday is in line with the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to intensify the distribution of land titles to emancipate farmers from the bondage of the soil.
“As we accelerate the distribution of land titles to the ARBs, we personally hand over these land titles to them to bring the people closer to the government and listen intently to their needs to help them improve their economic lives,” he said. Maricel V. Cruz
Estrella added that the ARBs who received their lands would soon be free from mortgages once the New Agrarian Emancipation Act is signed by the President.
Of the total land titles, about 636 land titles were distributed to 585 ARBs under the regular Land Acquisition and Distribution program of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) covering 393 hectares, while 437 electronic land titles (e-titles) covering around 709.04 hectares were given to 438 deserving ARBs under the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling project or SPLIT Project.
Project SPLIT is the parcelization of lands and issuance of individual land titles to ARBs who were previously awarded with lands under collective certificates of landownership award (CCLOAs).
Around 68.02 hectares of property of the local government of Palayan City in Nueva Ecija were also distributed to 30 ARBs.
Aside from Nueva Ecija, other ARBs who received land titles were from the provinces of Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Zambales.
Marcos, for her part, said his father’s dream is to empower the farmers by freeing them from the bondage of the soil. “After so many years, we are now seeing the realizations of my father’s dream,” she said.
On the other hand, Tolentino expressed elation that “the thousands of agrarian reforms beneficiaries have finally got what they deserve” and that he is “looking forward to the day when the agrarian support package would be delivered by the government entirely as one.”
DAR also turned over various farm machinery and loan packages to deserving ARB organizations during the activity.