CEBU CITY, Jan. 31 (PIA) -- Four hundred agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) recently received their Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) or land titles from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Cebu.

DAR Cebu Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II Grace Fua, together with Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator Atty. Neili Resma, led the distribution of 326 CLOAs to the beneficiaries.

Some 157.28 hectares of agricultural land were distributed under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in Brgy. Binongkalan, Catmon, Cebu.

These parcels of land have been awarded through CLOA under the free titling program of the DAR.

Fua said that these CLOAs have been processed for the past years, and fast-tracking the issuance of the CLOA to the ARBs who had been waiting for so long.

Catmon Mayor Avis Monleon thanked DAR for fast-tracking the distribution of these titles. 

Prior to the land title distribution, the beneficiaries have undergone a proper identification and verification process to ensure that they are the beneficiaries.

Agrarian Reform Program Officer II Atty. Chelzee Salera of the DAR Legal Division discussed the rights and obligations of the ARBs.

Maryln Pelonio, one of the ARBs and secretary of the Asosasyon sa mga Benepisyaryo sa Programang Agraryo sa Binongkalan, expressed her gratitude in behalf of the ARBs in their barangay.

She thanked DAR for their efforts in the processing and distribution of their titles.

Monleon, together with Binonkalan Brgy. Capt. Nicanor Zanoria, attended the CLOA distribution ceremony at the covered court in Binongkan, Catmon, Cebu. (HFG/PIA7 with reports from DAR Cebu)