IN A day, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Secretary Conrado Estrella III handed out 483 electronic and 119 Certificates of Land Ownership Awards (CLOA) to 501 Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBS) in Bohol, more than the total combined number of titles his three predecessors issued in their stints at the agrarian reform agency.
For handling out 602 titles: 483 of them e-titles and 119 CLOAS, Sec. Estrella’s accomplishment sinks the 63 titles accomplished by Victoriano delos Reyes, 18 titles handed by then Sec John Castriciones and the 128 processed by then Secretary Bernie Cruz.
In fact, the 602 e-titles and CLOAs, are just from Bohol, while the DAR issued the same titles to Cebu and Negros Oriental in a region-wide simultaneous distribution, February 21, 2023.
Secretary Estrella III, who is the grandson of the first DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella Sr., during president Ferdinand Marcos period, has successfully handed out individual land titles of the 544.0490 hectares of farms located in Bohol’s 18 Agrarian Reform towns.
Coming in as an effect of the DAR’s Support for Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titles (SPLIT), Sec Estrella personally handed the land titles in plastic folders to the beneficiaries from Alicia, Bien Unido, Candijay, Carmen, Catigbian, Clarin, Dagohoy, Danao, Dimiao, Getafe, Guindulman, Pilar, San Isidro, San Miguel, Sierra Bullones, Talibon, Trinidad and Ubay.
“Wala ko magdahum nga moabut pa kini,” (I never really believed this would come,) says Rowena Eronico, who, along with farmers from the Talibon Trinidad Farmers Association (TTFA) has been fighting to get their CARP shares in the last 30 years.
“Amomahon nato kini, dili nato ibaligya, hinuon, palambuon kini may tinubdan sa atong panginabuhian,”(Let us care for this, do not sell this, rather develop the property as this will be our source of livelihood), she continued, acknowledging the help of local DAR offices and Mayor Roberto Cajes who sent Councilor Dungog to escort Trinidad’s 22 title beneficiaries getting a total of 24 titles.
Trinidad has 23.35 hectares of prime farm lands with new individualized titles and communal CLOAS, from the government.
Guindulman town proved to benefit largely from the event as a total of 96.79 hectares are now with titles.
A total of 544.047 hectares in Bohol are now with either CLOAS or individual titles through the SPLIT Program.
Sec Estrella told Boholanos that apart from the titles, DAR is opening up the floodgates of agricultural support to make sure the farmer beneficiaries can get the most of their farm areas.
That same day, DAR handed out two 50 HP 4-wheel drive tractors with a complement of rotivators, disc plows and heavy duty trailers.
DAR, along with other government agencies have also funded farm to market roads, bridges under the Tulay ng Pangulo, key infrastructure, scholarships for kids of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries, TESDA scholarships with the intention of “aayusin ang buhay nga mga magsasaka, the secretary bared.
“Huwag po kayo bibitaw, tambak po ang suporta upang uunlad ang inyong buhay, Sec Estrella promised. (rahc/PIA_7/Bohol)
