COTABATO CITY (PIA)—A total of 351 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) from the provinces of Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, and Maguindanao have received their Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR) of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in a ceremony here Tuesday.

BARMM Senior Minister Abdulraof Macacua and MAFAR Minister Mohammad Yacob led the distribution of 295 CLOA to the ARBs covering 788.9238 hectares of land from the said provinces.

During the ceremony, MAFAR minister Mohammad Yacob said that the distribution of land titles under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program is part of the mandate of the ministry. He also emphasized the important role of farmers especially in times of pandemic.

“Despite the pandemic we are experiencing nowadays, you continue to plant and promote your lands. You are the reason why there is still food served on the table of every Bangsamoro family. That is why we are very grateful to you and our families,” he said.

Of the 351 total number of ARBs, 146 are from Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao, 34 from Lamitan City in Basilan, and 171 from the municipalities of Bongao, Languyan, and South Ubian in Tawi-Tawi.

The activity yesterday marks the second distribution of CLOAs in the region. The first distribution was conducted in December of 2019.

Since 2019, MAFAR has already granted 507 land titles to 758 beneficiaries across the BARMM region, covering a total of 1,590.29 hectares.