Calbayog City, Samar – Agrarian reform beneficiary (ARB) Gary Rubante expressed gratitude after receiving his Certificate of Condonation with Release of Mortgage (COCROM) from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) on Sunday, December 8.
Rubante is one of 1,504 ARBs from Western Samar and Northern Samar who were the first in Eastern Visayas to benefit from the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) under the new agrarian debt relief program.
The distribution of 2,140 COCROMs at the Calbayog Sports Center erases ₱41.3 million in unpaid amortizations and debts incurred from the 2,813 hectares of farmland awarded to these farmers.
Rubante, whose debt amounted to ₱111,842, thanked DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for the program. “At last, we no longer have to pay such a large amount,” he shared.
Although Senator Imee Marcos was slated to lead the distribution, inclement weather prevented her departure from Tacloban City. The event proceeded with DAR Assistant Secretary Rene Colocar, Eastern Visayas Regional Director Robert Anthony Yu, Samar First District Representative Stephen James Tan, Vice Governor Arnold Tan, and Calbayog City Mayor Raymund Uy.
The initiative is part of the implementation of Republic Act No. 11953, or the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, signed by President Marcos on July 7, 2023. The law condones ₱57.557 billion in principal debts owed by 610,054 ARBs nationwide.
In addition to COCROMs, the event saw the distribution of 592 electronically generated land titles under the SPLIT (Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling) project and 10 Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs), covering 1,127.15 hectares and benefiting 532 ARBs.
President Marcos sent a video message that was played during the event, reiterating his administration’s commitment to agrarian reform and farmer empowerment.