Over 11,000 farmers in Negros land reform areas now debt-free

PROUD OWNERS Agrarian reform beneficiaries and new landowners show their documents of debt condonation and land titles they received from Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III (front row, 8th from left) during the awarding rite held in Bago City, Negros Occidental, on Thursday attended by local officials led by Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson (10th from left). —RICHARD MALIHAN

BAGO CITY, NEGROS OCCIDENTAL—Over 11,000 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in Negros Occidental were freed of debts totaling P1.8 billion after the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) decided to condone their mortgages.

About 3,784 other ARBs, including some who waited for 40 years, also received titles to 4,683 hectares of land in ceremonies held here on Thursday.

Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III led the distribution of the certificates of condonation with release of mortgage (Cocroms) and land titles to the ARBs.

In rites held at Manuel Y. Torres Memorial Coliseum and Cultural Center in Bago City, the DAR distributed Cocroms to 11,179 ARBs tilling 8,860.15 ha of land in Negros Occidental, whose P1,834,357,395.70 in mortgages were condoned.

Cocroms are mandated under Republic Act No. 11953, known as the New Agrarian Emancipation Act. This law frees ARBs from debts, including unpaid amortizations, interests and surcharges incurred under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, which began in 1988 as a landmark “land for the landless” farmers’ initiative of the administration of the late President Corazon Aquino.

Thankful

There were also 3,784 ARBs who received land titles to 4,883.8402 ha of farmlands, including 2,402 from Negros Occidental who received land titles to 2,720.694 ha; and 1,382 farmers from Negros Oriental who were the recipients of 1,963 ha of land.

Estrella also led the ceremonial turnover of P5.6 million in farm machinery and equipment to ARB cooperatives.

Warlito Estelloso, 60, a farmer from Barangay Yubo, La Carlota City, Negros Occidental, said he waited 40 years to receive an individual title to the 1.4693-ha farm he tilled and was thankful that it has finally happened.

Ernesto Natuel, 80, of the village of Cabatangan in Talisay City, Negros Occidental, said he waited 32 years for his land title.

In 1993, he and other farmers were granted a collective certificate of land ownership award (Cloa). It took three decades for him to receive his individual Cloa.

For Natuel, the release of his individual title will bring a huge change in his life, as he is finally a full owner of the land he has worked hard on his entire life.

Now, he said, he would have “peace of mind, security, and the ability to pass on his property without any doubt” to his family.

“This is proof that (my) hard work and waiting were not in vain,” Natuel added.

Marching order

Estrella said the marching orders of President Marcos is for the DAR to complete the distribution of land to the agrarian reform beneficiaries before his term ends in 2028.

The President has directed them to ensure that government as a whole, and not just the DAR, helps the ARBs, he said.

That means assistance will not just be farm machineries, equipment and roads, but financial support, additional jobs to augment their incomes, health care, scholarships for their children and opportunities for their work abroad, he added.

With the opening of the DAR regional office in the Negros Island Region, Estrella said the needs of the agrarian reform beneficiaries in Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor could be better addressed.

Estrella was joined at the Bago distribution rites by Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, Representatives Jeffrey Ferrer and Mercedes Alvarez, and Bago City Mayor Marina Javellana-Yao.

Javellana-Yao said the distribution of the land titles to the ARBs was a “celebration of empowerment and love.”