SOME 50 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in Bago City received their certificates of land ownership awards (Cloas) from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Negros Occidental-South on Tuesday, December 15.

The new landowners will share the 43.0687 of the agricultural lands located in three different barangays which are all covered under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (Carp).

Thirty-seven of these farmer-beneficiaries are now the owners of 29.4457-hectare land in Barangay Tabunan, while 5.1734 hectares of the property in Barangay Pacol will be divided among seven ARBs.

The remaining 8.4496 hectares of the Carp-covered landholding will be shared by six new landowners from Barangay Taloc.

Senior Agrarian Reform Program Technologist Jeremiah Barrientos, representing Municipal Agrarian Reform Program Officer Aurea Lingamen, told farmer-beneficiaries to help the agency uphold the rights of tillers to own, control, secure, cultivate, enhance their agricultural lands, and improve their quality of life towards rural development and national industrialization.

"The distribution of land titles is one of the highlights of Land Tenure Security Program (LTSP), which is the lifeblood of the Carp, that aims towards achieving fertility, productivity, economic growth and sound rural development," he said.

Senior Agrarian Reform Program Technologist Marvin Rubio, for his part, vowed to facilitate the new landowners in forming their cooperative in order to be capacitated by availing various support services under the agency's major final outputs.

"Aside from LTSP and Agrarian Justice Delivery Program, the DAR has the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Development and Sustainability Program that constitutes development interventions from the agency and other government entities through training programs, construction and rehabilitation of infrastructure facilities and basic social services," Rubio said.

Also present during the distribution of land titles were Judicial Form Account Officer Ari Arceo and punong barangays and officials of Barangays Tabunan, Pacol and Taloc.