About 361 Quezon farmers now own the land they plow as Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones handed out their individual Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) from the government.
Together with DAR Regional Director Rene Colocar, Castriciones led the distribution of agricultural lands covering 529 hectares located in 11 municipalities in Quezon.
“The CLOAs are just the first step towards more support from the government. We will follow President Duterte’s national goal of improving the economic lives of our farmers by pouring various support services to farm communities,” Castriciones said.
The distribution made the recipients ecstatic during the ceremony held at Chateau de Marinero.
“I thank God and the government for this land title. I now have something to pass on to my son and my grandchildren,” said 81-year-old Bonifacio Pucerio, a coconut farmer from Real, Quezon.
“Now that I have full ownership of the land, I am now free from the burden of paying rent or share to the landowner,” Pucerio said.
Another beneficiary, 68-year-old Norma Parale from General Nakar, and her son, Jason, both received their CLOAs from the Secretary.
“Now that we are landowners, we can now plant any crop we want on our land,” Parale said.
Catriociones added that the initiative is in line with the President Duterte’s order—to help the farmers fight for their rights.
Other government officials present at the CLOA distribution were: DAR Assistant Secretary Elmer Distor, DAR Asst. Regional Director Priscila Ong, Land Bank Asst. Vice President Ramilito Santayana, and Infanta Mayor Filipina Grace America.
Meanwhile, DAR also led the distribution of land titles to 1,006 farmers from Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, and Zamboanga Sibugay on October 26, Friday.
