MAMBURAO, Occidental Mindoro – After many years of waiting, 330 farmer-beneficiaries here, including former rebels, were finally granted with certificates of land ownership award (CLOAs) by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

Buenaventura dela Rosa, chairman of the Golden Farms Producers Association, was emotional when he expressed gratitude to the DAR for the realization of his dream.

“I’m so happy, my dream of owning the land finally came true. I remember going to the DAR office and asking for their help. We have witnessed how they have fought for us for more than 20 years. They did not disappoint, they won the battle for us,” dela Rosa said.

DAR Undersecretary for field operations Kazel Celeste led the distribution of CLOAs to 258 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) covering 263.9 hectares of agricultural lands formerly owned by the Golden Country Farms Incorporated (GCFI) located in Barangays Balansay and Tayaman in Mamburao.

Also distributed were 72 CLOAs generated under the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) project to 72 ARBs covering 325 hectares of land.

Celeste said that among the farmer-beneficiaries were rebels-returnees, who are former members of the New People’s Army (NPA).

“Providing lands to the landless gives these former rebels the support they need as they start over a new life. I am sure that all of you will take care of your lands. Because you were with us fighting for your lands,” Celeste said.

DAR Regional Director Marvin Bernal said the farmers have been fighting to get the land for almost 30 years.

“The farmers have been in protest for more than two decades because the owner of GCFI, the land they have been tilling for so long, refused to include its land under the government’s CARP,” said Bernal.

According to Bernal, in 1992, the GCFI, a commercial farm engaging in poultry and livestock production, filed their protest against CARP saying the landholding was not for agricultural use. The protest was denied by the DAR in an order issued in 1993. The GCFI then appealed the order to the Office of the President (OP). However, the OP reversed the order because the GCFI was operating as a commercial farm. In 2014, with the help of the Provincial Agrarian Reform Coordinating Committee (PARCCOM), farmers groups together with private organizations, petitioned the DAR for revocation of the exception status of the GCI.

Bernal said that the revocation of GCFI’s land use from commercial to agricultural was further strengthened when in 2019, the DAR resolved the petition by revoking the exemption status of GCFI landholdings and declaring it to be covered under CARP.

During the distribution Bernal reminded the farmers of their responsibilities as new owners of the land. He also reminded them of their responsibilities in paying their monthly amortization to the Land Bank of the Philippines.

“Make these lands productive and do not sell these properties because it is against the law, the government can reclaim it and give it to more qualified individuals,” Bernal said. (DAR Mimaropa)