More than 5,000 farmers in Negros Oriental were freed from paying amortization fees and debts in relation to the acquisition of their lands after receiving certificates of condonation with release of mortgage (COCROM) from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).
Under the new Agrarian Reform Emancipation Act, the government will condone the debts of farmers who are also identified as agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) of DAR including the interest rates.
Charity Francisco, a senior citizen from Vallehermoso town, was among the recipients of COCROMs from DAR. She grows corn and bananas in her 4,600 square meter land in Brgy. Don E. Villegas in Vallehermoso, a town located 154 kms. north of Dumaguete City. Francisco said she will use the money she will be able to save from paying debts to develop her farm.
“Nagpasalamat ko sa atong Presidente hangtod sa mga kauban niya. Mahimo jud ipalit og abono kay kung og dili maabonohan dili man gihapon mapuslan ang tanom,” Francisco said. (“I am thankful to the President for this. I will use the money I saved to buy fertilizers because my crops won’t grow if I don’t use fertilizers.”)
DAR-7 distributed COCROMs to a total of 5,549 ARBs in the province, with a combined amount of P727,750,154.39 worth of debt to be condoned by the government.
DAR-7 regional director Atty. Shiela Enciso explained why some ARBs have incurred debts from the Land Bank of the Philippines.
“Kung ang kinover po namin lupa ay mayroon nang dating may-ari ito po ay tinatatawag na compensable. Iyong pong just compensation na ibinayad sa may-ari ng lupa ito po ay nagiging utang ng mga farmer-beneficiary. May mga farmer-beneficiaries tayo na mayroon doon sa CLOA, mayroon nakatatak na mortgage po sa LandBank of the Philippines. Ibig pong sabihin kailangan nila magbayad sa LandBank ng amortisasyon sa loob ng 30 years,” Enciso said. (“If the land we covered was previously owned by an individual, we call that compensable lands. The just compensation which we paid to the previous owners becomes the debt of the farmer-beneficiaries, which they have to pay gradually. We have farmer-beneficiaries whose Certificate of Land Ownership Awards or CLOAs have annotations citing they have to pay mortgages to the Land Bank of the Philippines within 30 years.”)
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act 11953 in July 2023, which liberated ARBs from paying debts, penalties, surcharges, and interests in relation to the acquisition of their lands.
“Iyon pong amortisasyon na dapat nilang bayaran sa Land Bank ay burado na because of that law that was passed last year iyong 11953,” Enciso said. (“The amortization fee, which they have to pay to Land Bank, was already condoned by the government because of the law that was passed last year, which is RA 11953.”)
The COCROMs were distributed to the ARBs in Negros Oriental on Nov. 16 at the Negros Oriental Convention Center in Dumaguete City.
The distribution was led by DAR Undersecretary for Mindanao Affairs Amihilda Sangcopan and Undersecretary for Support Services Rowena Nina Taduran.
DAR-7 also distributed 75 CLOAs to 98 ARBs covering 73.13 hectares of land and e-titles to 1,642 ARBs covering 2,269.53 hectares of land. | NWI
