Now 77 years old, farmer Francisco Asuncion has never imagined that he could own the parcel of agricultural land which he has been tilling in Catbalogan City in Samar.
Om May 20—and after 32 years of tilling that land— Asuncion finally claimed ownership of the agricultural land which he personally received from President Marcos in a ceremony in Tacloban City.
Asuncion was among the more than 5,400 farmers who received not only parcels of agricultural land under the agrarian reform program in Eastern Visayas but also other support services.
The support services are part of the P509.45 million worth of livelihood programs intended for Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) organizations and communities such as farm-to-market roads, bridges, irrigation projects, and farm machinery.
The farm-to-market roads include the Cabarasan Daku-San Agustin and San Agustin-Cangumbang both in Palo, Leyte; and in Barangay Kawayan-Sto. Niño and Crossing San Roque-Sitio Kulapniton, both in Tacloban City which are all currently under construction.
In the ceremony, Marcos also revealed that around 2,000 machineries and other equipment worth PhP10.28 million will be provided to to 1,694 farmer beneficiaries in Eastern Visayas.
One of the beneficiaries was 52-year old Roque G. Meronio who expressed gratitude to President Marcos for various infrastructure projects in Eastern Samar which he said will all benefit the local farmers.
For instance, he said the completed uni-bridge projects in Barangay Sigo and Barral II in Calbayog City have been helpful to the community, particularly in transporting agricultural products and sick people.
The bridge was one of the four completed PBBM bridges (Pang-Agraryong Tulay para sa Bagong Bayanihan ng mga Magsasaka) to residents of Southern Leyte, Calbayog City, and in Eastern Samar with a total budget of P78.172 million.