More than PHP8 million worth of unpaid land amortizations have been wiped out for Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) in Samar after the Department of Agrarian Reform’s (DAR) two-day simultaneous distribution of Certificate of Condonation with Release of Mortgage (COCROM).
DAR Region 8 (Eastern Visayas) awarded 690 COCROMs and 100 Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) covering 728.3497 hectares of agricultural land to ARBs in the cities of Catbalogan and Calbayog and 16 municipalities in Samar.
“We are so grateful for this help given to us by the President relieving us of our financial burden. We are so grateful to our government, especially to President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos,” Juliana Cabubas was quoted as saying in a news release on Saturday.
Juliana is one of the beneficiaries, who received condonation for her 1,893-square-meter farm lot awarded under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
The simultaneous distribution was led by DAR Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II (PARPO) Segundino Pagliawan in the municipalities of Basey, Marabut, Pinabacdao, Sta. Rita, and Villareal; Land Tenure Improvement Division Chief Lucena Mancol in Gandara, San Jorge, Sta. Margarita and Tarangnan; and PARPO I Josefina Amande in Jiabong, Daram, Zumarraga, Hinabangan, San Sebastian, Motiong, Paranas, and Catbalogan City.
The mass condonation was made possible through Republic Act 11953 or the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, which cancels unpaid principal amortizations, interest, and penalties on lands awarded under the agrarian reform program.
In addition, 92 ARBs received CLOAs during the event, including 87 individual e-titles under the World Bank-funded Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) Project. Five ARBs received CLOAs for newly awarded agricultural lands.
Under the leadership of Secretary Conrado Estrella III, the DAR remains committed to uplifting the lives of Filipino farmers by promoting equitable land distribution and ensuring land tenure security. (PNA)
