Albay farmers to receive land titles

MANILA, Philippines — After 15 years of adjudication proceedings, 76 farmers in Pio Duran, Albay will finally receive their certificates of landownership awards (CLOAs) covering 138 hectares of property, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) reported over the weekend.

In a statement, the DAR said the CLOAs covered landholdings formerly owned by Pablo Alsua and Amparo Buenviaje, and Ramon Alsua located in the villages of Marigondon and La Medalla, respectively.

“The CLOAs are being prepared and finalized and will be up for distribution soon, following the conclusion of the land acquisition proceedings,” Albay agrarian reform chief Maria Eugenia Alteza said.

Alteza admitted the delay in the distribution, noting the landowners sought to retain ownership of the property earlier placed under the coverage of the government’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

She said the delay was also caused by the erroneous documentation of the properties, which needed to be corrected.

Alteza said several other problems also surfaced during the process of the land acquisition such as the “abandonment of previously selected beneficiaries, non-payment of rental fees by the farmers to the landowners and the determination of the boundaries of the areas allocated to each beneficiary.”

The Alsuas raised the issue of unpaid rentals owed to them by the tenants for the last two decades.