SAN NARCISO, Quezon – The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has finally awarded some 1,270 hectares of agricultural land to some 434 farmer beneficiaries in Quezon province, after more than two decades of struggle to own their lands.
DAR Secretary- in-Charge Rosalina Bistoyong, with Undersecretary Karlo S. Bello, led the distribution of the certificates of land ownership awards (CLOAs) at the San Narciso municipal gymnasium here Wednesday.
“This triumph is not only for us but also for our children and the future of the next generation,” Bistoyong said as she read the message of President Rodrigo Duterte.
In his message, Duterte emphasized the need to fast-track the distribution of land to the country’s landless farmers.
Recipients of the CLOAs are farmers from Bondoc Peninsula, considered as the province’s agrarian hotspot.
The 434 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) are residents of the towns of San Andres, San Narciso, San Francisco, Buenavista and Mulanay.
The covered landholdings consisted of 844.23 hectares in Barangay Tala and 213.62 hectares in Barangay Camflora, both in San Andres; 172.72 hectares in Barangay Busok-Busokan and 16.76 hectares in Barangay Vigo Central in San Narciso; and 22.28 hectares in Barangay Tayuman in San Francisco.
The DAR chief also assured that support services will soon be provided to the ARBs in the area with the immediate distribution of some PHP2.5 million worth of seedlings and farm machinery.
She also encouraged the ARBs to develop their lands and told them neither to mortgage nor sell them.
“Ang biyaya ng lupa ay simula pa lamang. Hindi natin ito dapat gawing dahilan upang maging mapagmataas at makasarili. At lalong hindi natin dapat sayangin ang biyayang ito. Bagkus gawin natin itong instrumento upang magkaisa at sama-samang mapaangat ang antas ng ating pamumuhay at ang kalagayan ng ating bansa (The blessing of land is only the beginning. It should not be a reason for us to become haughty or selfish. And we certainly should not waste this blessing. Instead, we should make this an instrument to foster unity and support one another to uplift our standard of living, as well as the state of our country,” Bistoyong said.
A sizeable portion of the distributed landholdings was from the Hacienda Reyes property.
Quezon Provincial Board Member Vincent Reyes, the fourth generation of the Reyes clan who owned the hacienda, also graced the distribution ceremony.
Reyes admitted to have witnessed through the years, the struggle and determination of the farmers to own the land they till.
“I understand the problems on these lands. I hope that you will protect these lands, which are now yours, the way our family valued it,” he said as he vowed to help protect and make the distributed lands productive.
“I am saying this not as a public servant but as a former landowner of the land. Tayo na ang nagmamay-ari ng mga lupaing ito kaya sama-sama natin itong palaguin (We are now the owners of these lands, thus together, let us develop them),” he stressed.
Speaking on behalf of the 434 ARBs, Dindo Revilla of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Bondoc Peninsula (KMBP) and one of the CLOA recipients, expressed gratitude to the administration of President Duterte and the DAR for the triumph they have gained after years of struggle.
Revilla expressed hope that the government would provide them support services to hasten the development of their agricultural and economic lives.
Fellow farmer leader, Melchor Roco, said they are dedicating the triumph they have achieved to their leaders and members who died at the height of their struggle.
“Iniaalay natin ito sa pitong mga kasamang magsasaka na nagbuwis ng buhay habang tayo ay nakibaka upang makamtan ang lupang ating sinasaka (We dedicate this to the seven farmers who lost their lives as we were struggling to own the lands we have been tilling),” Roco said. (Saul Pa-a/PNA)
