DAR denies drop in CLOA grants

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said Thursday it has granted thousands of land titles to qualified farmer-beneficiaries, dispelling claims the issuance of titles has been plummeting over the years.

DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III told the House Committee on Appropriations that he was “willing to sit down” with Gabriela Partylist Rep. Arlene Brosas to reconcile the purported disparities in the figures she cited.

“Maybe you need to talk to the Department of Agrarian Reform because the data you are citing does not match the multitude of titles we are giving out,” Estrella said in Filipino during the House deliberation on the DAR’s budget for 2025.

He added, “The titles are increasing every year, but you are saying that the lands being distributed are dwindling.”

Brosas cited a document stipulating that the number of certificates of land ownership awards (CLOA) issued to qualified agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) had significantly abated.

“In 2020, there were 22,969 ARBS. In 2021, there were 50,170. Then in 2022, there were 26,138,” she said.

The CLOA is a government-issued title to an individual who must be a bona fide tenant or landless resident of the barangay where the land is located.

Any Filipino citizen who can cultivate and make the land productive is entitled to receive a CLOA.

Estrella warned that if the agency caught any recipients selling their land after less than 10 years, “we would take it back and give it to another owner.”

“Many OFWs (overseas Filipino workers are) waiting to receive titles,” he added.