ILOILO City – Certificates of land ownership awards (CLOAs) and farm machinery and equipment under the Department of Agrarian Reform’s (DAR) Sustainable and Resilient Agrarian Reform Communities (SuRe-ARCs)/Climate Resilient Farm Productivity Support Projects (CRFPSPs) were turned over to recipients on Friday morning.
DAR secretary Condrado M. Estrella III led the distribution of 1,649.57 hectares of land to 1,501 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in Western Visayas.
Here is the breakdown of areas of land and the number of recipient ARBs per province:
* 135.9427 hectares for 83 ARBs in Antique
* 403.3468 hectares for 334 ARBs in Capiz
* 32.6869 hectares for 22 ARBs in Guimaras
* 349.0131 hectares for 320 ARBs in Iloilo
* 347.0131 hectares for 426 ARBs in Negros Occidental (North)
* 381.3864 hectares for 316 ARBs in Negros Occidental (South)
“Hanggat maaari huwag nating ibenta ang lupa. Bakit po? Bawal po, hindi ninyo puedeng ibenta ang lupa. [If caught] kukunin muli ng DAR ang lupa,” reminded Estrella.
He also said they are eyeing educational scholarships to the children of ARBs.
DAR also distributed a total of 774 bags of organic fertilizers. Iloilo received 417 bags for 11 ARB organizations and Antique got 357 bags for 14 organizations.
Estrella also turned over 12 farm machinery and equipment worth P5,939,000 to 12 ARB organizations.
Meanwhile, the DAR secretary unveiled the proposed construction of the P7-million Tissue Culture Facility with a greenhouse in Barangay Sablogon, Passi City.
He also led the groundbreaking ceremony of farm-to-market roads in Barangay Mambiranan-Grande, Passi City; Barangay Cabilauan, Barotac Nuevo; and barangays PD Monfort North, Bolilao-Barasan and Paloc Bigque in Dumangas.
He said the agency is aiming for more farm-to-market roads in strategic areas for faster transportation of products.
Also present during the distribution of CLOAs were undersecretary for Foreign Assisted and Special Projects Office Jesry T. Palmares; DAR Region 6 director Sheila Enciso; Iloilo’s Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr.; Iloilo’s representatives Michael Gorriceta, Ferjenel Biron, Raul Tupas, and Janette Garin; Passi City’s Mayor Stephen Palmares; and DAR Region 6 officials, among others./PN
