DAR awards CLOAs to 115 beneficiaries

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has distributed certificates of land ownership award (CLOAs) covering 282 hectares of land to 115 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in Northern Mindanao last Tuesday.

DAR Secretary Rafael Mariano, assisted by DAR Regional Director Faisar Mambuay, awarded to the beneficiaries the 159 CLOAs situated in the municipalities of Bukidnon and Cagayan de Oro City.

"The CLOAs are just the first step towards more support from the government. The Department has completed infrastructure projects for our ARBs here," Mariano said.

According to Mambuay, DAR

has also lined up livelihood projects and programs for the farmers of Northern Mindanao.

"There is no letting up in pursuing our mandate of distributing farmlands and providing support services to the farmerbeneficiaries to improve their quality of life," Mambuay said.

The CLOAs were given during the Inter-Provincial Agrarian Reform Coordinating Committee (PARCCOM) Convention in Malaybalay, Bukidnon.

Mariano, who chairs the PARC Executive Committee said the PARCCOM con- vention intends to craft solutions to issues and concerns on the implementation of agrarian reform in Northern Mindanao.

"For the last 10 years, the PARC rested. It did not create a single policy for agrarian reform and its beneficiaries. Under my watch, I want the PARC to be a working committee. A committee that works and fights for the rights and welfare of farmers," Mariano said.