ILOILO CITY – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Thursday, September 19, distributed land to 1,932 farmer-beneficiaries from Panay Island.
PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., with officials of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), distributes land to farmer0beneficiaries from Panay Island in Passi City, Iloilo province on Thursday, September 19. (Presidential Communications Office)
Marcos was accompanied by Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III during the turnover in Passi City, Iloilo province of 2,643.52 hectares of agricultural land.
“Ang bawat titulo ang ating pinagkaloob…Ang bawat titulo ay nagbibigay ng kalayaan sa ating mga magsasaka. Kalayaan mula sa mga pagkakautang, kalayaan (na) magkaroon ng tiyak na kinabukasan para sa kanilang pamilya, at kalayaan na makapagplano para mas maunlad ang inyong mga bukas,” said Marcos.
(These titles give freedom to farmers from debt and provide them with a bright future for their families)
DAR-6 Director Leomides Villareal said that the majority of the distributed land was part of the implementation of the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling or SPLIT project.
The project issues individual electronic land titles (e-titles) to farmers to address the problems caused by Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) which lumped farmer-beneficiaries in one land title.
The distribution of e-titles was seen to reduce land-based disputes among farmers in Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, and Guimaras provinces.
Of the 1,932 Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs), 1,725 received e-titles for agricultural land encompassing 2,390.41 hectares. Two-hundred seven ARBs received CLOAs for 253.11 hectares of agricultural land.
Iloilo had the highest number of ARBs with 699, covering more than 841 hectares of agricultural land.
Last December, Marcos also distributed e-titles to 2,143 farmers in Passi City where DAR Undersecretary Jesry Palmares hails from.