10 rice farmers
in Ormoc receive CLOA from DAR
Ten
landless farmers in Ormoc City receive their Certificates of
Land Ownership Award (CLOA) from the Department of Agrarian
Reform (DAR) on August 9 this year making them now owners of the
land they till. |
By
JOSE ALSMITH L. SORIA
August 19, 2022
ORMOC CITY –
“Pasalamat ko nga nakadawat kog titulo. Pasalamat ko sa Ginoo nga
naa na ko kaugalingon nga titulo.” (I am grateful I received a
title. Thank you, Lord, I now have my own title.)
These were the words of
Ernesto Bolakinia, who was obviously happy to receive his
Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) from Municipal Agrarian
Reform Program Officer (MARPO) Ruben Rebato on Tuesday, August 9
this year, in a simple distribution rite held in Barangay San Jose,
where most of the recipients reside.
Bolakinia, 63, was among
the 10 rice farmers in this city who recently received CLOA from the
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), making them now the owners of
the land they are tilling.
According to Bolakinia,
who has six children and a recipient of a .6489 hectare ricefield,
the land awarded to him will be of big help in sending his children
to school.
Another recipient, Ramil
Catado, 42, said “Salamat kaayo nagkaroon kami ng sariling lupa na
matataniman para sa aming hanapbuhay.” (Thank you very much we now
own a land where we can plant for our livelihood.”)
Catado, a recipient of
1.0255 hectares of land further said he is happy because they will
now be relieved from giving shares to the landowner. “All the
harvests will now be ours,” he stressed.
Elenita Godin, a recipient
of 1.8 hectares of land could not also hide her emotions. According
to her, she is very much grateful because she never owned a land.
Just now.
Rebato disclosed that the
10 individual CLOAs covered an aggregate area of 6.8660 hectares
previously owned by the Concepcion Espina Agricultural Corporation
and Anito Ygot. The landholdings are situated in adjacent Barangay
Guintigui-an in this city.
As the 10 recipients are
now considered landowners, Rebato and MARPO Aouda Colibao emphasized
their obligations as agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) including
the payment of land amortizations and the real property taxes.
They were likewise
encouraged to join agrarian reform beneficiaries organizations (ARBOs)
to avail of the various support services extended by DAR.