Widows among 33 agrarian beneficiaries installed in Ormoc

By JOSE ALSMITH L. SORIA
October 28, 2021

ORMOC CITY – Mixed emotions was how widow Rosario Torlao felt when she was accompanied by a survey team from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to her late husband’s awarded lot under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) as she and 32 other agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) were physically installed early this month and take full possession of the land.

“Sobrang saya ko ngayon, ngunit nalulungkot din dahil hindi na naabutan ng asawa ko ito,” (I am now very happy, but at the same time sad because my husband never caught up with this.) said Rosario, 65.

She added “Noon pa sana ito nakatulong sa amin,” (This could have helped us long time ago.) as she could not believe her family now owns an almost three-hectare lot, which used to be a sugarland.

In 1997, Rosario’s husband, Vicente, became a recipient of a certificate of land ownership award (CLOA) covering a 2.9-hectare lot in Barangay Patag, formerly owned by the Larrazabals.

But Vicente, according to Municipal Agrarian Reform Program Officer (MARPO) Artheiriza Manalo, failed to take full possession of the said land due to several agrarian issues and disputes until he died in 2013.

Aside from Rosario, three other widows, Teresita Caliwan (71), Asuncion Agcang (78), and Trinidad Solayao (77) were also installed as they likewise took over the place of their late ARB-husbands during the installation.

The four widows were among the 33 ARBs, who now take full possession of their awarded lots after having been physically installed following DAR survey teams conduct of a perimeter survey. Many of them waited for this moment for more than two decades.

Manalo disclosed that the landholdings where the ARBs were installed were formerly owned by the Larrazabals, Pongos and Pensergas.

Meanwhile, DAR Eastern Visayas Regional Director Robert Anthony Yu expressed thanks for the support and cooperation which led to the peaceful and successful installation of ARBs both on September 22 and October 1 this year to Philippine National Police Regional Director PBGEN Rommel Bernardo Cabagnot as well as Ormoc City Director PCOL Ramil Ramirez, Philippine Army’s 802nd Infantry Brigade Commander Zosimo Oliveros and to Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez.

A total of 58 ARBs have already been installed since September.

RD Yu, together with the police and the military, believe this activity would contribute to the government’s End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) program.