Over 9,500 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in Davao Region on Thursday received land titles and Certificates of Condonation with Release of Mortgage (CoCROMs).
The distribution covered over 16,210 hectares of land and included debt condonation exceeding PHP716 million.
In an interview, Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Secretary Conrado Estrella III emphasized that distributing land titles is crucial for agrarian reform, as it enables farmers to become landowners and promotes inclusive rural development.
“The land we gave is all free and clear of debts per Republic Act 11953, or the New Agrarian Emancipation Act (NAEA),” Estrella said.
He noted that DAR aims to complete the distribution of 400,000 land titles by the end of 2025.
Estrella added that DAR will also provide the ARBs with more farm-to-market roads, irrigation and soil testing laboratories.
“We will also coordinate with the concerned agencies to provide scholarships to the children of the ARBs,” he said.
The Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) affirm ownership rights under Republic Act (RA) 6657, as amended by RA 9700.
The allocation of Electronic Titles (E-Titles) is part of the government’s Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) Project, which accelerates the subdivision of previously issued collective CLOAs. (PNA)
