Serbisyong DAR to DOOR: DAR distributes agricultural lands to agrarian reform beneficiaries

UMINGAN, PANGASINAN--Ten agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) from Brgy. Luna Este in Umingan, Pangasinan cried tears of joy when they received their certificate of land ownership award (CLOA) from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) on October 28.

 In a project coined “DAR to Door”, DAR Secretary Bro. John Castriciones himself delivered the CLOAs to the beneficiaries’ homes in a move to empower local farmers.

 “‘Yung mga tenants… they have been used to tilling the soil under the direction and the management of landowners [and they] are now given these parcels of land--a maximum of three hectares per person--so they will become the landowners themselves,” Castriciones explained. “Because for the longest time, they have been used to being ordered around by the landowners.”

 The CLOAs given to the ten ARBs in Umingan are the first of 21 land titles generated from a subdivided 15.1334-hectare lot. The property in Brgy. Pangangaan was acquired by the Land Bank of the Philippines in 2014 for Php1,404,726.70. The agricultural landholding was originally owned by spouses Adolfo and Juanita Villanueva of Baguio City, who offered their property through voluntary offer to sell.

 Since July, the department has been conducting the DAR to Door program amid the global pandemic as a way of extending the office’s services to farmers and their families.

 Under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law as amended by Republic Act 9700, DAR is mandated to provide an “equitable distribution and ownership of land... to provide farmers and farmworkers with the opportunity to enhance their dignity and improve the quality of their lives through greater productivity of agricultural lands”. (Zarena Amado/Information Officer)