A TOTAL of 148 farmers who were earlier awarded with lands now have possession of their lands.
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) recently installed the farmers who received a total of 169.9 hectares of land in the town of Hinigaran, Negros Occidental under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
A total of 103 farmers were installed in the 138.3-hectare landholdings formerly owned by Juan Ysasi in Barangay Palayog, while 45 farmers were in the 31.6-hectare property of previous owner Margarita Yulo-Gonzaga in Barangay Pilar.
Hinigaran Municipal Agrarian Reform Program Officer (MARPO) Zenaida Montalvo said the installation completes the land-transfer process for the beneficiaries.
Newly installed farmer, Leonardo Asdallo from Barangay Pilar, said he considered the land awarded to them as the most important Christmas gift he ever received.
“This gift does not only benefit me but the next generation of my family. The certificate of land ownership award [CLOA] I received is the tangible proof that the government has awarded me this land,” Asdallo said.
Domingo Gatmaitan, Montalvo’s fellow MARPO in Hinigaran, reminded the beneficiaries that they should not throw away this chance of cultivating their own land. “Pay your amortizations and other obligations religiously to avoid bank’s foreclosure of the property.” The farmers can now avail themselves of loan support for their CARP-awarded lands to help them sustain productivity.
The installation ceremony was witnessed by the Provincial Task Force on Installation, Social Action Center, Kaisahan, Philippine National Police-Hinigaran, and other Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program stakeholders.
Jonathan L. Mayuga