150 farmers in 5 Nueva Ecija towns get land titles
TALAVERA, Nueva Ecija, Philippines — Land titles for 98.78 hectares of farm areas were distributed to 150 agrarian reform beneficiaries in five towns of Nueva Ecija province last week, officials here said on Monday.
The certificates of land ownership award were given to the farmers from the towns of Cuyapo, Guimba, Pantabangan, Rizal and this town in a ceremony held here on May 12 led by Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones.
The turnover of the certificates of land ownership award to Nueva Ecija farmers came at about the same time that agrarian reform beneficiaries in Pilar town of Capiz province in the Visayas have also started occupying the lands awarded to them by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) 23 years ago.
Additional assistance
The Nueva Ecija farmers got additional assistance, as Castriciones also handed to them government financial aid and farm tools during the ceremony.
Six farming organizations in the province were the beneficiaries of P1.5 million worth of equipment, such as hand tractors, grass cutters, well pumps and engines, and a power tiller-cultivator.
The government of this onion-producing town also received from the DAR a 1.2-ha land that would host a cold storage facility in Barangay Bantug Hacienda, said Mayor Nerivi Santos-Martinez.
Martinez said the P206-million cold storage project would help some 2,500 farmers in five towns improve their livelihood.
The DAR also signed a memorandum of understanding and marketing agreement with the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), which would enable the farmers to directly supply their produce to the BJMP.
