DAR forgives PHP80M agrarian debt for CAR farmers

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has eliminated PHP80.17 million in agrarian debt for farmers in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), and recently relieved three farmers in Davao region of nearly PHP5 million.

This relief benefits 1,421 agrarian reform beneficiaries in CAR who had been carrying financial burdens for nearly six decades, while the three farmers in Davao collectively received PHP4.94 million in forgiven loans.

DAR issued 1,944 Certificates of Condonation with Release of Mortgages to condone loans, interest, penalties, and surcharges from lands awarded under previous agrarian reform laws in CAR, while a separate ceremony in Digos City honored 2,207 beneficiaries who received certificates.

Assistant Secretary Rodolfo Castil Jr. encouraged beneficiaries to maximize the potential of their lands for the benefit of their families and communities, while Senator Imee Marcos led the distribution of COCROMs covering 2,883 hectares in Davao region.

The debt condonation is part of Republic Act No. 11953, the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. last year.