592 agrarian beneficiaries receive e-titles during BPSF launch in Leyte

By JOSE ALSMITH L. SORIA
October 2, 2023

TOLOSA, Leyte – A total of 592 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) from 21 Leyte towns and a city received their individual land titles as the Marcos administration launched simultaneously on Saturday, September 23, the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair (BPSF) in four provinces in the country.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in his message, as he led the launching in Camarines Sur, said, “Ang programang ito ay isa lamang sa mga unang hakbangin ng pamahalaan upang magkaroon ng bagong pag-asa at bagong simula ang mga Pilipino. Magkakahiwalay man ang ating mga isla, pinagbubuklod-buklod naman tayo ng isang diwa at isang pangarap, isang bagong Pilipinas para sa bagong Pilipino.”

House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, who led the launching in Leyte, disclosed that BPSF, a two-day event, is simultaneously being launched also in the provinces of Ilocos Norte and Davao de Oro, bringing the government closer to the people.

Romualdez spearheaded the distribution of various assistance from about 40 government agencies with Leyte Governor Jericho Petilla, at the Visayas State University (VSU) Tolosa campus. The affair was attended by an estimated 60,000 residents coming from the 40 municipalities and three cities in Leyte, as BPSF brings government offices together in one venue.

In the distribution of the electronically generated Certificates of Land Ownership Award (e-CLOAs), Romualdez and Petilla were assisted by Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Eastern Visayas Regional Director, Atty. Robert Anthony Yu.

According to Yu, 665 e-CLOAs covering an aggregate area of 997.7358 hectares of farm lots were handed over to 592 ARBs from Ormoc City and the towns of Alangalang, Babatngon, Barugo, Bato, Burauen, Capoocan, Carigara, Dagami, Hilongos, Jaro, Kananga, La Paz, Leyte, MacArthur, Matalom, Mayorga, Merida, Palompon, San Miguel, Tabango and Villaba.

Yu explained that the e-CLOAs or individual titles were issued under the World Bank-funded Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) project, after subdividing the lands covered by collective CLOAs. This is to improve land tenure security and strengthen property rights of the ARBs, he added.

Marivic Mendoza, 61, a mother of three from Capoocan town, and a recipient of 2.2 hectares farm lot, was so thankful that they now have their individual titles without spending a single centavo, while Evelyn Dayon, 66, from adjacent Kananga town, is hoping that they are included in the condonation of debts and amortization as mandated by Republic Act No. 11953, which was recently signed by the President.