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| Over 1,000 land titles were awarded to agrarian reform beneficiaries in Eastern Visayas, aimed at improving agricultural production. Photo: DAR |
TACLOBAN CITY – Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III, along with Senator Imee Marcos, on January 26, 2023, distributed 1,047 land titles to 1,006 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) from six provinces in Eastern Visayas, covering 1,571 hectares of agricultural land.
Elvira Dela Pena Hallazgo, an ARB from Brgy. Gibacungan, Tabango, Leyte, expressed her gratitude to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and promised to make the most of the land she received. "We are truly grateful to the DAR for these land titles, which will make us official owners of the land we have been cultivating for a long time," she said.
Many beneficiaries have waited for decades to finally receive the land titles that bear their names.
Senator Marcos called for the modernization of farms to boost food production in the region. "We need to improve our mechanization program and provide our farmers with necessary tools such as fertilizers and hybrid seeds," Marcos said.
Meanwhile, Secretary Estrella said that the DAR will continue to bring the government closer to the people and make the ARBs feel that his agency is always ready to help them. "Please do not sell your lands. All support services will be provided to you by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. Make them more productive and keep the lands that have been given to you so that you can be self-reliant food producers of the country," he said.
According to Eastern Visayas Regional Director Atty. Robert Anthony Yu, the majority of individual land titles were processed through the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) project. He reminded the beneficiaries that they would be more secure if they joined farmer organizations, where the DAR can provide various support services to improve their land.
He added that the individual titles will benefit not only the ARBs but also the local government where the properties are located, as there is a potential for income from taxes that can be collected due to land ownership. —iTacloban