Tacloban city: A farmers' group in Eastern Samar said the newly turned-over machinery from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) will modernize rice and vegetable farming in their communities. Armando Orale, president of the Far East Farmers Agrarian Reform Cooperative from Can-Avid, Eastern Samar, said the new equipment will significantly benefit their more than 40 members.
According to Philippines News Agency, the group received two hand tractors with trailers worth PHP280,000, along with eight floating tillers (turtle-type) and eight floating tillers (mudboat-type), each valued at PHP70,000. Aside from working on individual farms, the cooperative cultivates a five-hectare communal area planted with rice, vegetables, and root crops.
Orale shared that the group previously relied on manual farm work until they sent a request for assistance to DAR 8 (Eastern Visayas), which he said responded quickly. 'Now that we have machinery, these will help us hasten our work in our farm, which will help not only our families but also our livelihood,' he said in an interview on Wednesday.
The farmers' cooperative is just one of the recipients of PHP50 million worth of assistance to agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in the region that were turned over on Tuesday. The distribution ceremony, led by DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III and held at the Tacloban City Astrodome, gathered beneficiaries from all six provinces of Eastern Visayas.
As part of the support package, DAR turned over 88 units of farm machinery and equipment to farmer organizations across Samar, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte, and Biliran. These include Elf trucks, three-wheeled motorcycles, tractors, mobile rice mills, floating tillers, and rice threshers with blowers.
In his message, Estrella said DAR will continue to provide additional support, including farm inputs, to agrarian reform beneficiaries in line with the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. 'Expect that the government will provide more assistance to our farmers in the days to come,' he said.
Aside from machinery, Estrella also led the distribution of 4,613 e-titles to 4,190 ARBs covering 10,000.73 hectares, and 3,011 Certificates of Condonation with Release of Mortgage to 2,048 beneficiaries amounting to PHP99,394,966.65, covering 4,492.39 hectares.
DAR aims to complete the distribution of the remaining 800,000 land titles before the end of Marcos' term in 2028. This year, the agency targeted the release of 300,000 titles, but has so far distributed just more than 200,000 due to weather-related delays.
