QUEZON CITY -- Nanay Ana Ondoy Cole, is now one year and two months short to be a certified centenarian. She is an agrarian reform beneficiary (ARB) of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) living in barangay Dalid, Tabuelan in the province of Cebu.

Stooped, wrinkled, toothless and had difficulty in hearing, Nanay Ana had seen the worst and better times in life. At her age, she is still mobile with few limitations and still possesses clear and sharp eyesight. 

So sharp that when she saw the DAR team approaching her house she immediately stopped in her tracks and suspended all the things she needs to do to entertain the DAR team. She was about to take a bath, precisely the reason why she is wrapped in a cloak when the DAR team arrived.

Nanay Ana, going 99 years old this coming September, was too anxious to face the team. She thought that the visitors, who were from the government, would evict her and her family from the property they are living in. Little did she know that the team visited her place in the hinterlands of Barangay Dalid in the town of Tabuelan to deliver to her a certificate of land ownership award (CLOA) through the department’s DAR-to-Door program.

The DAR-to-Door program is an initiative of DAR Secretary Brother John Castriciones to personally bring the CLOAs to agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) to assure them that the government is reaching out its hand to help the farmers. 

Contrary to the earlier apocalypse she had in mind, the surprise brought about by the DAR team broadened and transformed her rather innocent, shy and toothless smile into a  wide grin as she received the CLOA into her hands.

“Nahadlok ko uy. Taga gobyerno man siguro ni sila. Papahawaon na kaha mi ngari sa yuta nga among gipuy-an,” Nanay Ana said in disbelief. (I was afraid that these people might be from the government and we will be evicted from the property we lived in.)

Nanay Ana received a total of 8,088 square meters of land, where her 11 children and grandchildren could help each other to transform it into a productive property to assist them in their daily sustenance.

“Salamat sa Ginoo, Salamat ninyong tanan. Nakaginhawa na intawon ko nga dili diay mi papahawaon sa among yuta. Nakatagamtam pa gayod ako sa akong titulo usa ko motaliwan ning kalibutan”, so said an emotional Nanay Ana. (Thank you, Lord, thank you to all of you. I am now assured that we will not be evicted from our property. I am happy to get this title before I leave this world.)

DAR-Central Visayas Regional Director Resty Osias said bringing back the trust of the people is the main objective of the DAR-to-Door program.

“We do not know why she had a negative thought upon seeing the government personnel. Maybe she had some unpleasant experiences in the past administrations or believed in hearsays that the government will take something away from them each time the government visits them. What matters is we change these misconceptions about the government through this program,” Osias said.

Osias divulged that through the DAR-to-door activity, a total of 10 hectares of agricultural lands were distributed to 15 ARBs in Barangay Dalid, and that the experiences they get, and their neighbors who saw the personal handing out of land titles, would give them hope that the government is there for them, even if they are living in far-flung areas.

The ARB visits were administered by by Municipal Agrarian Reform Program Officer Merlinda Miraflores, Agrarian Reform Program Technologist Mayflor Montesa and Agrarian Reform Program Officer Maricar Brigoli. (DAR)