ILOILO — In a major victory for land reform beneficiaries, 184 Ilonggo farmers were officially freed from long-standing land debts as the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Iloilo distributed 282 Certificates of Condonation with Release of Mortgage (CoCRoM) covering nearly 196 hectares of agricultural land on April 24.
The condonation, made possible under Republic Act No. 11953 or the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, forgave the farmers’ unpaid obligations to the Land Bank of the Philippines, erasing decades of financial burden associated with their awarded lands.
The beneficiaries hailed from the municipalities of Anilao, Banate, Barotac Nuevo, Dumangas, Dueñas, San Miguel, Alimodian, Leon, Leganes, and Zarraga.
DAR Iloilo’s Land Tenure Improvement Division (LTID) and municipal personnel facilitated the distribution of CoCRoMs during a ceremony attended by the newly debt-free farmers.
Signed into law by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on July 7, 2023, the New Agrarian Emancipation Act condones over P1.5 billion worth of land amortization, penalties, interest, and surcharges incurred by more than 15,000 Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) across Iloilo, Capiz, Guimaras, and Negros Occidental.
It covers lands awarded under Presidential Decree No. 27, Republic Act No. 6657, and Republic Act No. 9700.
DAR Iloilo said the distribution of CoCRoMs would continue until today, April 28, ensuring that more farmers would soon gain full ownership of their lands without the burden of debt./PN
