Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado M. Estrella III, together with Senators Imee Marcos and Francis Tolentino, distributed on Thursday, April 27, a total of 1,073 land titles to 1,053 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) covering 1,170 hectares of agricultural lands from Central Luzon region.
Estrella said this activity is in line with the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to intensify the distribution of land titles to emancipate farmers from the bondage of the soil.
“As we accelerate the distribution of land titles to the ARBs, we personally hand over these land titles to them to bring the people closer to the government and listen intently to their needs to help them improve their economic lives,” he said.
DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III (5th from right), together with Senators Imee Marcos, (6th from right) and Senator Francis Tolentino (7th), other government officials, and the ARB-recipients of land titles after the event.
Estrella added that the ARBs who received their lands would soon be free from mortgages once the New Agrarian Emancipation Act is signed by the President.
Of the total land titles, about 636 land titles were distributed to 585 ARBs under the regular Land Acquisition and Distribution program of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) covering 393 hectares, while 437 electronic land titles (e-titles) covering around 709.04 hectares were given to 438 deserving ARBs under the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling project or SPLIT Project.
Project SPLIT is the parcelization of lands and issuance of individual land titles to ARBs who were previously awarded with lands under collective certificates of landownership award (CCLOAs).
Around 68.02 hectares of property of the local government of Palayan City in Nueva Ecija were also distributed to 30 ARBs.
DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III delivers his message to the farmers who are about to receive their land titles.
Aside from Nueva Ecija, other ARBs who received land titles were from the provinces of Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Zambales.
Senator Imee Marcos said his father’s dream is to empower the farmers by freeing them from the bondage of the soil.
“After so many years, we are now seeing the realizations of my father’s dream,” she said.
Senator Francis Tolentino commended the DAR for this activity and added that he is looking forward to the day when the agrarian support package would be delivered by the government entirely as one.
DAR also turned over various farm machinery and loan packages to deserving ARB organizations during the activity.
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