In a significant move to empower farmers, the Department of Agrarian Reform-Bicol (DAR-5) handed out more than 14,700 land titles and Certificates of Condonation with Release of Mortgage (COCROM) to farmers in the Camarines provinces. The distribution took place on December 20, 2024, at the Fuerte Camsur Sports Complex in Pili, Camarines Sur, as part of the efforts to implement the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, signed into law by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on July 7, 2023.
DAR-5 Director Reuben Theodore Sindac announced that a total of 14,757 titles and COCROMs were distributed to 12,266 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) across Camarines Sur I, Camarines Sur II, and Camarines Norte, covering an expansive 19,285.2428 hectares of land. The government has allocated PHP391.73 million for this round of COCROM distribution, which will benefit 11,641 ARBs by condoning their principal loans, unpaid amortizations, and interests on 18,247 hectares of land. Additionally, 678 land titles were distributed to 625 ARBs, covering 1,038.1715 hectares.
The distributed land titles include electronic titles (e-titles) under the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) project, benefiting 345 ARBs over 648.6892 hectares, and regular titles or Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOA), benefiting 269 ARBs over 381.6927 hectares. Furthermore, 13 government-owned land titles were distributed, benefiting 11 ARBs and covering 7.7896 hectares of agricultural land.
This event underscores the current administration’s commitment to accelerating land title distribution and improving the livelihoods of farmer-beneficiaries through the New Agrarian Emancipation Act.