DAR brings 4 CLOAS to Bohol farmers

CATIGBIAN, Bohol, April 19 (PIA) -- Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Sec. John Castriciones flew to Bohol to personally deliver a presidential mandate to distribute all lands to eligible farmers in his term.

Castriciones delivered the Certificates of Land Ownership Awards (CLOA) or land titles to farmer beneficiaries in a program called "DAR to Door."

Along with Undersecretaries Virginia Orogo and Atty. Emily Padilla, and regional, provincial and municipal DAR officials, Castriciones visited the Agrarian Reform Communities (ARC) of Catigbian on April 16 to turn over four agricultural and residential titles covering .4594 hectares to Matias B. Nalo, 57, and Merinesa Sequina, 55, of Triple Union Catigbian. 

Nalo, who has been farming from the property of LPBS Commercial, has used part of his farming income to send three kids to school, producing a seaman who is now taking care of repairing the family house.

"This is a very valuable proof that farming can, in fact, improve one’s lot, and with that, the government is delivering this land title to you," Castriciones said as he presented the land titles that the couple have been waiting for for over 25 years.

Also receiving a land title for his tilled farm at LPBS Commercial is Leoncio Sequina, 56, who along with spouse Elena, 58, of Triple Union, received .5407 hectares from the government.

The couple has four kids, one in high school and three in college.

From Triple Union, Castriciones went to Causwagan Catigbian, where Michael Garzano, 55, and spouse, Rosalina Maghuyop, received 1.5028 hectares and .3155 hectares from the property of Ramon Lopingcao.

The couple has two kids, a Grade 3 pupil and a nautical graduate.

Still harvesting much less than the usual one-hectare yield due to lack of irrigation in the farm, Castricciones directed local DAR officials to survey the area to seek potential source of water where the government could build a solar irrigation system, as well as help the couple with their farm inputs.

A few hundred meters from the Garzano farm is another beneficiary whom Castricciones visited to personally hand over the title.

Rubin Restituto, 53, and wife Maritess Dalangin, 44, received their land from Ramon Lopingcao covering .2222 of a hectare from the huge landholding in Causwagan Norte.

"Farming proves still that it can emancipate the farmer from being enslaved to the land they till," Castriciones said, noting that the beneficiaries who have been farming while waiting for their land titles have already sent their children to college.

Castriciones lauded Catigbian mayor Elizabeth Mandin, who is a daughter of an agrarian reform beneficiary.

“The right education, the right training, and the most important part in a life of a farmer is for them to receive the land they can call their own,” Castriciones emphasized.

"DAR to Door" is an innovation that allows for faster awarding of CLOAS and jumpstarts the farmers, who will now become land owners, to heed the call for food production amid the pandemic.

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."

To DAR officials and employees joining him during the event, Castriciones urged: "We have to exert more efforts so the farmers can receive their own piece of land, as fast, in compliance with the mandate of the president."

Pres. Rodrigo Duterte has directed Castriciones to turn over to eligible farmers all the lands that can be given, and finish everything before his term ends. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol

DAR TO DOOR SERVICE DELIVERY. DAR Sec. John Castriciones (in red) turns over the CLOA to Elena Sequina whose parents have been tilling the land they are now entitled to. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)

LANDOWNERS NOW. From being farmers who have to till the land and share their harvest, spouses Michael Garzano and Rosalina Maghuyop are now land owners. DAR Sec. John Castriciones directed DAR Bohol to pursue a survey to find a possible water source for the Garzanos so they can avail of the solar irrigation that could enhance their harvest. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)