TEN agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in E.B. Magalona town have taken oath and signed the Application to Purchase and Farmer's Undertaking (Apfu) as they qualified for the screening process to become land recipients.

Farmers of the landholding totaling to nine hectares took oath before Judge Ranhel Perez at the E.B. Magalona-Manapla Municipal Trial Court in Cities recently.

Municipal Agrarian Reform Program Officer Tessie Pedrosa told farmer-beneficiaries that they are now one step closer to becoming the owners of the land.

Pedrosa said the DAR is operationalized to distribute land to landless farmers.

"This will ensure their economic viability and productivity," she said, urging the ARBs to bear bountiful crops and produce good harvests.

Located at Hacienda Benita Jarra in Barangay Alicante, the landholding is under the name of Hero Enterprises.

The DAR is the lead government agency that holds and implements comprehensive and genuine agrarian reform that actualizes equitable land distribution, ownership, agricultural productivity, and tenurial security for the tillers of the land towards the improvement of their lives.

DAR in Negros Occidental-North said the oath taking and signing of undertaking is one of the preliminary activities of the agency to acquire land through Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (Carper).

Under Carper, the agency is mandated to redistribute government and private agricultural lands to landless farmers and farm workers to secure their land security, social equity and provide them with the necessary productive resources needed to ensure their economic viability and productivity.

It also covers all tenanted agricultural lands such as those in the retained areas, not yet acquired for distribution under Carp, and those which may be validly covered under existing laws.

With Negros Occidental still under the Modified General Community Quarantine, the activity complied with health protocols, it said.