670 Isabela farmers get land titles from DAR

NEW LAND OWNER Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones awards a certificate of land ownership to a beneficiary in Barangay Villapaz in Naguilian town, Isabela province, on July 1. —VILLAMOR VISAYA JR

NAGUILIAN, ISABELA — At least 670 farmers on Thursday received their certificates of land ownership award (CLOAs) from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

The awarded government-owned farmlands covered about 855 hectares here and in the neighboring towns of Jones and Delfin Albano in Isabela province, said Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones.

Castriciones, who led the ceremonial distribution of the CLOAs here, said he had been personally supervising the awarding of land titles nationwide to ensure they hit their target.

“We have been pursuing all of the pending cases [of land distribution] through our zero-backlog program,” he told the Inquirer.

According to Castriciones, one of the beneficiaries in this town has been waiting to receive his land title since 1958, long before the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law was enacted in 1988.

Delayed by legalities

He said the implementation of agrarian reform had been delayed by legal issues arising from the land acquisition and distribution aspect of the program. Castriciones also distributed 43 units of brand-new motorcycles with sidecars, two units of multipurpose vans and a farm tractor to the farm beneficiaries.

He also led the groundbreaking and signing of the memorandum of agreement for 150 houses at the Balai Farmers housing project in Barangay Villapaz here and a bridge project in Barangay Pongpongan in Jones.

The DAR chief also inaugurated a solar-powered irrigation system in Barangay Banquero in Reina Mercedes town and other agrarian reform support services in the province.

—VILLAMOR VISAYA JR