Debt-Free Farmers: CoCROM Brings Hope to Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries in Cagayan

SOLANA, Cagayan - The dream of land ownership has finally come full circle for thousands of agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in Cagayan Province. In December 2024, the government took a historic step in alleviating the financial burdens of farmers by awarding Certificates of Condonation with Release of Mortgage(CoCROM) to over 6,300 ARBs. This momentous event marked the condonation of a staggering ₱392.68 million in land-related debts, freeing farmers from financial obligations that have hindered their progress for decades.

A Milestone in Agrarian Reform. The awarding of CoCROM is part of the implementation of Republic Act11953, also known as the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, signed into law in July 2023. This legislation mandates the condonation of all unpaid amortizations, interests, penalties, and surcharges owed by ARBs who were awarded land under the agrarian reform program. Nationwide, the law benefits over 610,000 farmers, wiping out a total of ₱57.65 billion in agrarian arrears.

The event in Cagayan was graced by Senator Imee R. Marcos, who emphasized the significance of this debt relief initiative. "Wala na kayong kailangan bayaran sa lupang ipinagkaloob sa inyo ng pamahalaan," she declared, highlighting the government's commitment to empowering farmers and ensuring a self-sustaining agricultural sector.

Economic and Social Impact on Farmers. For many ARBs, this development is life-changing. The burden of unpaid land amortizations had long prevented them from fully benefiting from their awarded lands. With their debts erased, farmers can now invest more in productivity, improve their livelihoods, and secure a better future for their families.

"Napakalaking ginhawa po ito para sa amin," shared Ernesto Villanueva, a farmer from Tuguegarao. "Matagal naming pinangarap ang ganitong pagkakataon na tuluyang mapasaatin ang lupang sinasaka namin. Ngayon, mas makakapag-focus na kami sa pagtatanim at pag-unlad."

The debt relief is expected to stimulate economic activity in the region, as farmers will have greater financial flexibility to purchase better farming equipment, increase crop production, and expand their agricultural ventures. Additionally, with the removal of financial constraints, ARBs can now access government support services such as farm-to-market road development, irrigation projects, and livelihood assistance programs.

Strengthening Agrarian Reform Support Services. The issuance of CoCROM is just one of the many efforts by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to strengthen the agrarian reform program in Cagayan. Complementing debt condonation are infrastructure projects, farm modernization initiatives, and capacity-building programs for farmers.

DAR-Cagayan has been actively implementing various support services, including the distribution of farm machinery, establishment of farm cooperatives, and technical training on modern farming practices. These initiatives ensure that ARBs are not only relieved of financial burdens but also empowered to maximize the potential of their lands.

A Brighter Future for Cagayan Farmers. With the implementation of CoCROM, the future looks promising for agrarian reform beneficiaries in Cagayan. By freeing farmers from the weight of unpaid amortizations, the government has paved the way for more inclusive agricultural growth and rural development. This initiative reaffirms the country's commitment to social justice and economic progress, ensuring that ARBs are given the support they need to thrive.

As the farmers of Cagayan embrace this new chapter, their resilience, hard work, and dedication to the land will undoubtedly contribute to a stronger and more productive agricultural sector—one that benefits not just them but the entire nation as well.

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) distributed 6,803 Certificates of Condonation with Release of Mortgage (CoCRoM) to 6,300 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) from the province of Cagayan condoning a total debt of P392,675,939 covering 6,303 hectares

The event was likewise attended by Cagayan province Gov. Manuel N. Mamba and DAR officials. 

In December 2024, Cagayan province took a historic step in alleviating the financial burdens of farmers by awarding Certificates of Condonation with Release of Mortgage(CoCROM) to over 6,300 ARBs

 The event marked the condonation of a staggering ₱392.68 million in land-related debts, freeing farmers from financial obligations. 

The distribution activity, led by Senator Imee Marcos and Agrarian Reform Regional Director Primo
Lara was held on Monday, December 9, 2024, at the Municipal Gymnasium of Solana.

 

DAR Region 02 Regional Director Primo C. Lara: RA 11953 condones all loans, including interest, penalties, and surcharges incurred by ARBs.

DARPO-Cagayan officials and employees cheerfully witness the successful implementation of RA 11953. 

Republic Act No. 9700: Once a CLOA, always a CLOA title.

 A lot of people who desire to buy agricultural lands often ask: Can a Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA), which is also a TCT title, be sold and converted into a regular TCT title? And the answer to that question is generally, a CLOA title CANNOT be converted into a regular TCT title.  

Section 27 of Republic Act No. 6657, as amended by Section 12 of Republic Act No. 9700, reads as follows: 

"SEC. 27. Transferability of Awarded Lands. - Lands acquired by beneficiaries under this Act or other agrarian reform laws shall not be sold, transferred or conveyed except through hereditary succession, or to the government, or to the LBP, or to other qualified beneficiaries through the DAR for a period of ten (10) years: Provided, however, That the children or the spouse of the transferor shall have a right to repurchase the land from the government or LBP within a period of two (2) years x x x."

"The title of the land awarded under the agrarian reform must indicate that it is an emancipation patent or a certificate of land ownership award and the subsequent transfer title must also indicate that it is an emancipation patent or a certificate of land ownership award.

"If the land has not yet been fully paid by the beneficiary, the rights to the land may be transferred or conveyed, with prior approval of the DAR, to any heir of the beneficiary or to any other beneficiary who, as a condition for such transfer or conveyance, shall cultivate the land himself/herself. Failing compliance herewith, the land shall be transferred to the LBP which shall give due notice of the availability of the land in the manner specified in the immediately preceding paragraph.

"In the event of such transfer to the LBP, the latter shall compensate the beneficiary in one lump sump for the amounts the latter has already paid, together with the value of improvements he/she has made on the land." (Source: Republic Act No. 9700)

NOTES: 

DAR Administrative Order No. 06-16 

x x x

Section 9. Judicial Form for Transfer of Awarded Land. – The judicial form of the Certificate of Title resulting from the transfer of an Awarded Lands (sic) after the holding period (henceforth becoming TAL) shall not be an EP or CLOA, but shall state the EP or CLOA number of the Awarded Land.  Therefore, such Title need not be generated by the DAR nor be signed by the Secretary of Agrarian Reform.

The judicial form of the Certificate of Title resulting from the transfer of a TAL shall also not be an EP or CLOA but shall state the EP or CLOA number of the original Awarded Land.  Such Title need not also be generated by the DAR nor signed by the Secretary of Agrarian Reform.

The judicial form of the Certificate of Title resulting to the transfer of an Awarded Land pursuant to intestate succession or testate succession of a legitime during the holding period (henceforth remaining as an Awarded Land) shall be an EP or CLOA, as the case may be.  Such Title must be generated by the DAR and signed (through signing machine) by the Secretary of Agrarian Reform.

 

DAR Region 2 distributes Php17.6 million worth of farm machinery and equipment.

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) provincial offices in the Cagayan Valley region (Region 2) have procured and distributed Php17.6 million worth of farm machinery and equipment (FME) consisting of tractors, combine harvesters, delivery trucks, etc., to nine (9) agrarian reform beneficiaries' organizations (ARBOs) in the different provinces in the region. The FME would help farmers modernize their operations and increase their yield resulting to increase in income.  

According to DAR region 2 Regional Director Primo C. Lara, the farm machineries and equipment for distribution to selected agrarian reform beneficiaries' organizations is being implemented under the Sustainable and Resilient Agrarian Reform Communities Project (SuRe ARCs), a DAR program for farm machines aimed to improve farm productivity and increase thehousehold income of ARBs through the ARBOs where they are a member.  

The turnover of the farm equipment was graced by the presence of Atty. Kazel Celeste, DAR Undersecretary for Field Operations (FOO) and Atty. Marjorie P. Ayson, DAR Assistant Secretary, FOO. The FME was distributed to the following ARBOs: Sunrise Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Garita Farmers Agriculture Cooperative, the Farmers of Luna Agriculture Cooperative, Villaverde Development Cooperative, Brgy. Paitan Farmers Irrigators Association, Inc., San Salvador ARB Association, Luttuad ARB Farmers Association, San Francisco ARB Farmers Association, Maui Farmers' Cooperative, Dicamay Farmers Agri Cooperative, Greenfield Cabatuan Agriculture Cooperative, Nam-Ay Farmers Association, Western Aurora Agri Cooperative, Upper Forest Region Agrarian Reform Cooperative, Reform Farm Workers Association, Sinili Vegetable Growers Cooperative, and Rotary Community Corps of Cauayan City Producers Cooperative. 

The SuRe ARCs is a program of the Department of Agrarian Reform that aims to support the agricultural sector and enhance food security. In addition to farm mechanization, the project is also establishing enterprise-based crop nurseries with greenhouse facilities and tissue culture laboratories in agrarian reform beneficiary organizations, state universities and colleges, and local government units within Agrarian Reform Communities (ARCs).  

Turnover of farm machinery and equipment under DAR Project SuRe ARCs.  

DAR Usec Atty Kazel C. Celeste (left) and DAR Asec Atty Marjorie P. Ayson. 

Delivery truck for hauling of ARB agri products. 

Combine harvesters and tractors. 

Four-wheeled tractors for ARB coops. 

DARPO Cagayan-Batanes PARPO II Val M. Cristobal and staff.

Sunrise MPC officers and members - recipients of delivery truck. 

P17B insurance protection for ARBs provided by DAR and PCIC

Quezon City, Philippines, September 17, 2022 - The insurance protection plan is contained in the joint program called the “Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries-Agricultural Insurance Program (ARB-AIP).” The ARB-AIP will benefit over 224,000 ARBs or members of their households who are actually cultivating around 330,000 hectares of land and engaged in raising some 30,700 farm animals, who are eligible for insurance premium subsidy.

From these ARBs, there are estimated 99,580 rice farmers tilling 178,801 hectares;  37,772 corn farmers cultivating around 72,506 hectares; and about 85,760 commercial crop farmers cultivating around 78,633 hectares. Nine hundred twenty four (924) farmers raise 30,742 animals.

Each eligible ARB shall have access to protection cover up to three hectares (maximum award per CARP beneficiary) and up to three types of insurance coverage only which is good for two cropping seasons.

The Department of Agriculture (DA), through the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC), has partnered with the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to provide some P17.1 billion worth of crop insurance protection to agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) over the next two cropping seasons.

The insurance protection plan is the first such collaboration between two of the country’s main rural development agencies and the biggest group plan ever issued by the DA-PCIC. It aims to provide the ARBs a safety net against fortuitous events caused by climate change, also crop pests and diseases.  

Additionally, beneficiaries will be provided protection against loss of limbs or life under its Accident and Dismemberment Security Scheme. To qualify, the program beneficiaries must be participants of key DAR programs, such as the Agrarian Reform Connectivity andEconomic Support Service (ARCCESS), Agrarian Production Credit Program (APCP), Credit Assistance Program for Program Beneficiaries Development (CAP-PBD) and Microfinance Capacity Development in Agrarian Reform Areas. DAR will identify the eligible beneficiaries.

DAR will put up the premium subsidy worth P1B from the DAR-GPS for Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries. Of the amount, P533.78M will be allocated for rice farmers, P385.82, corn farmers, P79.09M for high value crop farmers, P1.31M for livestock. The premium cost for the individual farmer’s life and limb coverage amounting to P5.43M would come from interest income of the DAR-Government Premium Subsidy (DAR-GPS) Fund.

For its part, DA-PCIC will provide the insurance cover worth some P17.07B from which some P4.94B will be reserved for rice, P2B for corn, P2.35B for commercial crops, P13M for livestock, and some P7.77B for the individual farmer’s life and limb.

In cases where the insured risks happens, the DA-PCIC will pay out damage claims from these beneficiaries within 20 days, less than the 60-day reglementary period. This is made possible by the ISO-certified systems and processes established by the DA-PCIC.

Depending on the extent of damage and the cost of farm investment, the farmers may receive payments for damages worth P39,000 to P52,000 per hectare for inbred and hybrid rice, respectively;  P28,000 and P40,000 for every hectare of open-pollinated and hybrid corn, respectively;  and  up to P50,000 for life and limb. These are various indemnity figures for commercial crops and animals as there are many types of crops and animals involved.

Link: DAR-PCIC orientation (on Facebook page)

DAR Cagayan Valley 2019 ANNUAL REPORT

DAR allots P300-M to aid farmers during COVID19 pandemic

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has allotted PHP300 million to finance its ongoing project "The PaSSOver: ARBOld Move to Heal as One Deliverance of our ARBs from the Covid-19 Pandemic,” a project in response to the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act or Republic Act 11469, where the President Rodrigo Duterte directed all government agencies to provide, protect and promote the welfare of the people amid the COVID19 health crisis. Throughout the nation, there are thousands of CARP farmer-beneficiaries adversely affected by the COVID19 pandemic.

     Admittedly, the biggest and most important sector in the country affected by this crisis is the food service industry, the Philippines being a nation with a thriving agricultural backbone, the lockouts throughout Luzon (which later on expanded to some major provinces in Visayas and Mindanao) caused farmers and agricultural workers suddenly unable to produce, tend their farms, and market their products. It also resulted to laborers losing job opportunities resulting to massive loss of income.

     As the public were forced by the crisis to stay in their homes to protect themselves and their families, the local economy ground to a halt but expenses continue to pile up. Business establishments remain closed and some may never open up again. All of a sudden, the agri sector is experiencing the largest loss of income in human history due to the deadly and highly contagious COVID19 pandemic, putting a sudden stop to physical interactions and almost none on business transactions.

     According to DAR Secretary JohnR. Castriciones, the budget for the project will be taken from the realigned budget of the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Development Sustainability Program (ARBDSP) and unobligated allotment from the different units of the DAR Support Services Office (SSO). The project aims to give essential support to ARBs for them to be able to perform their roles in ensuring food sufficiency in the country.

     The project intends to provide immediate and essential support services to men and women agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) to mitigate the impact of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) measures due to the pandemic and to address the demands affecting the agricultural sector even after the ECQ has been lifted or upon the start of the “new normal.”

The PaSSOver: ARBOld Move project will provide enable the ARBs, individually and collectively, to continue performing their roles as frontliners in ensuring food sufficiency for the nation. DAR is assisting the farmers in the distribution and delivery of agri products by issuing quarantine passes so they could pass through checkpoints in critical areas under ECQ.

     The Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organizations (ARBOs) will also be provided with farm inputs such as seedlings, fertilizers, pesticides, and farm tools to enable them to resume planting crops for continuous food supply. It will cover 7,000 hectares nationwide with 90,839 individual ARBs to benefit from the project. ARB identification cards (ARB IDs) are also being issued and distributed under the PaSSOver: ARBOld Move project. The ID cards are being given to identify ARBs and facilitate their access to the government's social amelioration programs (SAPs). As of April 24, a total of 77,119 ARB IDs have been distributed by the DAR.

     The project will also extend its support to 1,200 women ARBs nationwide by providing them with livelihood activities, especially in food production such as egg and poultry production, hog fattening, and similar activities based on their preferences and capabilities to ensure they have food on their tables and products to sell.

    According to DAR SSO Undersecretary Atty. Emily Padilla, “the project will also provide packages containing supplemental food, hygiene products and vitamins to ARB households. Each package will contain 4 kilos of rice, 4 canned sardines, 4 packs instant noodles, 2 pieces bath soap, 10 pieces face masks and a bottle of 50 pieces vitamin C. A total of 126,565 qualified ARBs will benefit from these packages. “Helping our ARBs will ensure that their agricultural production, livelihood and income will continue during this health crisis. It will also ensure sustained supply of adequate, affordable and safe food necessary for Filipino consumers even upon the 'new normal' will be implemented,"

     Meantime, in Cagayan province, the DAR Provincial Office personnel are presently going around different municipalities distributing initially the relief packs for agrarian reform farmer-beneficiaries, to be followed immediately with the distribution of farm inputs and livelihood kits, to help farmers get on and move on to the new normal. (Photos by: Mimi Atal-Mora)
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