DUMAGUETE CITY, Jan. 19 (PNA) – The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) provincial office in Negros Oriental has distributed Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) to 20 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) of the landholding formerly owned by Antonette Fleischer.
The 48.825-hectare property is located in Amlan, Negros Oriental and was covered by a Voluntary Offer to Sell, said Gherelene Mae B. Rafols, DAR Provincial Information Officer, in a media release Monday.
Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II Louie L. Naranjo re-oriented the beneficiaries of their rights and obligations during the program that followed the distribution of CLOAs, said Rafols.
This is the second time for the DAR in Negros Oriental to distribute CLOAS to the beneficiaries of the former Fleischer estate, who have formed themselves as the Bio-os United Farmers Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association (BUFARBA), said the association president, Anthony Maginsay.
Maginsay, in a phone interview oin Monday, said that a total of 118 tenants and their families have been identified as beneficiaries of the landholding.
However, only about a third of them have received their CLOAs while the rest are still waiting for the document so they can proceed smoothly with tilling the land.
Maginsay, a radio broadcaster, disclosed he was among the 16 beneficiaries in the first batch to have received the CLOAs several months back.
He appealed to the DAR to fast track the release and distribution of the CLOAs to his fellow farmer-beneficiaries as they have been waiting for about six years already since the landholding was covered by the government’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
Maginsay said he and other beneficiaries had received two hectares each.
The distribution of CLOAs was attended by Bio-os Barangay Captain Jaime Rosales, ARBO Chairman Manginsay and DAR Provincial Officer Naranjo.
The activity was spearheaded by the DAR Municipal Agrarian Reform Office of Amlan, headed by Benjamin E. Empig, and Development Facilitator Julius Merecido.
Also, an orientation on Bana Grass Production Technology was conducted by the president of the Negros Mackey Corp., Manuel Utzurrum III, according to Rafols. (PNA)