NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, South - A total of 5,607 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in the southern part of Negros Occidental are set to benefit from loan condonation under the New Agrarian Emancipation Act (NAEA), as validated by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Negros Occidental 2. This initiative, under Republic Act 11953 signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on July 7, 2023, aims to condone all loans, including interests, penalties, and surcharges incurred by ARBs.
According to Philippines News Agency, the validation process achieved a 100 percent accomplishment rate of the total target ARBs set by the central office. The validated list will be forwarded to the regional and central offices, as well as the Land Bank of the Philippines, which will determine the final list of ARBs eligible for the certificate of condonation and release of mortgage (CoCRoM). The issuance of certificates and their subsequent distribution to the ARBs will be scheduled on dates yet to be announced.
The ARBs who have completed the validation process hail from 18 local government units in southern Negros, including cities like Bago, La Carlota, Himamaylan, Kabankalan, and Sipalay, as well as municipalities such as Pulupandan, Valladolid, San Enrique, Pontevedra, Hinigaran, Isabela, La Castellana, Moises Padilla, Binalbagan, Ilog, Candoni, Cauayan, and Hinoba-an.
This significant step follows the memorandum circular issued by Secretary Conrado Estrella III in September last year, which called for the creation of a nationwide condonation response and action desk. Consequently, the DAR Negros Occidental 2 established the Provincial Condonation Response Desk (CoRD) led by Arnulfo Figueroa, the officer-in-charge provincial agrarian reform program officer II. The CoRD's summary report in October initiated the process for filling in title and lot numbers for transmission to DAR municipal offices (MOs) for further validation and invitation of ARBs for profiling.
The DAR emphasized that the CoCRoM will pave the way for ARBs to enhance the productivity of their farms, leading to increased financial security for farmers and bolstering the food supply chain security for the Filipino people. Through the initiative, including DAR-to-door or house-to-house validations, the implementation aims for efficient and effective monitoring and validation of ARB profiles.