• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
A total of 11,179 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental received financial relief, as the Philippine government, through the Department of Agrarian Reform, condoned more than P1.8 billion in debts.
The targeted ARBs are tilling 8,905.11 hectares of land in two Negros provinces.
Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III led the distribution Certificates of Condonation with Release of Mortgages (CoCRoM) to the 11,179 ARBs, and Certificates of Land Ownership Awards (CLOAs) to other 3,784 farmer beneficiaries, who are tilling 4,683.8 hectares of land, during awarding rites held at the Manuel Y. Torres Memorial Coliseum and Cultural Center in Bago City, Negros Occidental.
The New Agrarian Emancipation Act, which was signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in July 2023, condones all loans, including interests, penalties, and surcharges, incurred by ARBs from lands awarded to them under Presidential Decree 27, Republic Act 6657, and Republic Act 9700.
It will be the national government, which will assume payment of unpaid compensation to the Land Bank of the Philippines, and the certificate granted to the farmer-beneficiary “shall automatically authorize the immediate and full release and discharge of any mortgage lien or encumbrance arising from agrarian debt.”
Of the total condoned amount, P1.104 billion covered the 9,300 CoCRoMs for 3,922.11 hectares of agricultural land tilled by 5,283 ARBs under the DAR Negros Occidental I-North.
Under the DAR Negros Occidental II-South, 5,896 ARBs with 4,938 hectares of agricultural land were freed from P729.642 million in debt
Estrella also turned over P5.6 million worth of farm equipment to farmers, as witnessed by Negros Occidental Reps. Jeffrey Ferrer and Mercedes Alvarez, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, Bago City Mayor Marina “Mayette” Javellana, and DAR regional director Lucrecia Taberna, among other government officials.
In an interview, Estrella said that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered DAR to finish the land distribution before his term ends in 2028, which he added “can be done.”
Governor Lacson expressed his gratitude to the national government and DAR for supporting farmers and addressing their needs, which helps uplift their lives.* with PNA reports
