SOME 72.33 hectares of land in Benguet are now covered by land titles awarded by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Secretary John Castriciones on Thursday.
The land is spread out through seven Benguet municipalities – Bakun, Bokod, Kapangan, Kibungan, Sablan, Tuba, and Tublay.
Castriciones led the distribution of 86 Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) in Benguet, covering the 72 hectares of land,, now officially covered by paperwork as proof of ownership.
Of the 86 CLOAs, 78 are Original Certificates of Title (OCTs) and 10 are Transfer Certificates of Title (TCTs).
According to Castriciones, more CLOAs would have been provided and the event would have been held in Kapangan, Benguet instead of La Trinidad but the town was on lockdown due to a recent COVID-19 surge.
Castriciones also said that some more 300 hectares worth of CLOAs are slated to be distributed in Kapangan on a later date.
“Don’t leave farming because even if life is difficult, the farmer will eat and survive as long as they have plants. It is the farmers who survive in any calamity or pandemic because they have food to serve on the table even if it is just with the fish sauce or the salt placed to season it,” Castriciones said in encouraging the land-owners to continue practicing agriculture.
