TABUK CITY, Kalinga (PIA) — The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) distributed certificates of condonation and release of mortgage (CoCRoM) in Kalinga on Friday, Dec. 6, relieving 1,421 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in the Cordillera region of their agricultural land debts.
The 1,944 CoCRoM distributed condoned the farmers’ total land debt of P80,170,550, covering an area of 1,330 hectares. According to DAR-Cordillera Regional Director Samuel Romero, the CoCRoM forgave the farmers of their outstanding balances in the agricultural land awarded to them under the agrarian reform program.
“Yun pong mga outstanding balances niyo po sa pagbabayad ng lupa na in-award po sa inyo ay hindi na po babayaran. This will include not only the principal but also the interest, the penalties as well as surcharges that are attached to the land,” Romero said.
“So yun po ang kagandahan nito, yung binanggit ng ating President that the purpose of this law, RA 11953, is really to help our ARBs concentrate not on paying amortization but for them to provide the necessary inputs dun sa kanilang mga lupa na inaward sa kanila. In this way, it will increase the productivity and by doing so, this will improve the economic standard in life,” Romero added.
Republic Act (RA) 11953, or the New Agrarian Emancipation Act (NAEA) signed by President Marcos in July 2023 aims to relieve farmers of agrarian-related debts incurred from lands awarded under Presidential Decree 27, RA 6657, and RA 9700.
During the distribution, Nelia Bernese, one of the CoCRoM beneficiaries from Abra, expressed her gratitude for the program.
“Agyaman kami unay iti daytoy impaay ti programa ni Presidente Bongbong Marcos, dakkel unay ti impaay na kadagiti mannalon ta nalibre dagiti bayad mi nga haan mi pay nga binaybayadan nga titulo,” she said.
Meanwhile, 483 ARBs in the Cordillera region also received their Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs), covering a total of 360 hectares of lands in the six provinces in the region.
The distribution is part of the Support for Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) project of the DAR , which aims to subdivide collective CLOAs providing individual land titles to ARBs who were previously granted land through collective ownership. (JDP/RGA-PIA CAR, Kalinga)
