MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agrarian Reform on Friday announced that it recently distributed 1,936 hectares of agricultural land to 632 farmer-beneficiaries in Butuan City.
Caraga Assistant Regional Director Andre Atega said the certificates of landownership awards were handed out to the farmers covered public lands from Barangay Sumile.
Sumile Barangay Chairman Andy Ecleo said the farmers are grateful to DAR for giving them agricultural land to cultivate that they could call their own.
Ecleo added that the farmers assured the DAR that they would make their land productive and would honor their obligations by paying their regular amortizations as well as real estate tax to reciprocate the government’s good gesture.
Atega, on the other hand, said that the agrarian reform is not merely concerned with land distribution but also providing support services to its beneficiaries.
"The department also provides support services, to help the farmers raise their incomes and their living standards," he added.
He said the provision of support services in the form of basic rural infrastructures, credit assistance and livelihood training, among others, is one of the major components of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. - Dennis Carcamo