President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to completing key agrarian reforms by 2028, describing the effort as a “labor of love.”
Speaking at the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Quezon City, where he distributed Certificates of Condonation and Land Ownership Awards to agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), Mr. Marcos emphasized the deep connection between agrarian reform and his father, former President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., who initiated the program decades ago.
“Agrarian reform is truly a labor of love for both me and Secretary Conrad [Estrella III], as this started during my father’s administration when his [Estrella’s] grandfather led the DAR,” Mr. Marcos said.
The event saw the distribution of 1,119 Certificates of Condonation and Release of Mortgage (COCROMs) to over 1,000 ARBs in Bulacan, freeing them from more than P270 million in debt. In Nasugbu, Batangas, 343 CLOAs were given to 287 ARBs, covering more than 230 hectares of farmland.
The distribution is part of the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, which aims to ease the financial burden on farmers by canceling debts tied to land amortization, interest, and surcharges.
“This law is meant to alleviate your hardships from debts and surcharges that have been attached to farmlands for years,” he said.
Since July 2022, the DAR has distributed 136,116 land titles to 138,718 ARBs, covering over 164,000 hectares nationwide.
The President vowed to finish the land distribution program by 2028, ensuring that all ARBs fully benefit from the government’s agrarian reform efforts.
“Under this administration, we are working hard to complete agrarian reform so that all beneficiaries can utilize the lands by 2028,” Mr. Marcos added
The DAR’s first COCROM distribution event was held in July in Pangasinan, where 4,112 certificates were awarded to 3,558 ARBs, condoning about P50.56 million in debt.
