DAR gives MSU land to farmers, fresh graduates of Oriental Mindoro
VICTORIA, Oriental Mindoro—The long wait is over for 220 farmers, including fresh-graduates of agriculture, who received their Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), in a distribution ceremony held on January 17 at the gymnasium of the Mindoro State University here.
“I thank God and the government for this land title. I now have something to pass on to my children,” said Rosalie Pimentero, 61 years old, from barangay Alcate in Victoria.
Royson Apostol, a 24-year-old graduate of agriculture was very excited when he received his CLOA.
“This land and my knowledge in modern farming would greatly help my family economically. I will do my best to augment our family income,” Apostol said.
Together with the DAR officials of Oriental Mindoro, DAR Undersecretary Elmer Distor, led the distribution of agricultural lands covering 346 hectares located in Barangays Alcate and Villa Cerveza in Victoria.
According to Distor, the agricultural lands distributed is the property owned by the Mindoro State University acquired through Executive Order No. 75.
EO 75 was signed into law by President Duterte on February 1, 2019, paving the way for DAR to facilitate the processing of idle and abandoned government-owned lands that can be covered under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
“If you are a beneficiary of EO 75, it’s free, you don’t have to pay even a single centavo, all you need is to make the land productive. Please do not intend to abandon, pawn, or sell the land,” Distor said.
Distor added that the land they have acquired can be passed on to their children so that farming and producing crops will continue and will eventually benefit the country’s economy and ensure food security.
DAR Regional Director Marvin Bernal said that among the CLOA recipients, three are graduates of agriculture courses.
Citing DAR’s Administrative Order No. 3, series of 2020, or the awarding of agricultural lands to qualified graduates or four-year degrees in agriculture or related fields for their economic empowerment and growth of the nation. Bernal said the graduates were given not more than three hectares each.
Beneficiaries of the program include those who completed a four-year bachelor’s degree in agriculture as certified by the registrar of the institution, who are landless, willing, able, and capable to cultivate and make the land productive, living in the town where the DAR acquired unused government-owned lands and where landholding is located and is certified as not a CARP applicant or an agrarian reform beneficiary (ARB).
“This is the government’s move to create a spark to get young people’s desire to get back into farming especially with the right skills obtained from the agricultural school. DAR believes they can contribute to fortifying and securing second-generation "techy" farmers,” Bernal said.