TACLOBAN CITY — Nearly 1,300 farmers across Eastern Visayas who benefited from the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program but had unpaid amortizations were granted condonation last Saturday, ahead of the program’s second anniversary.

Agrarian Reform Undersecretary for Field Operations Kazel Celeste led the awarding of 2,000 Certificates of Condonation with Release of Mortgage (CoCRoMs) to 1,293 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in the region.

Celeste said the COCROMs wiped out over 53 million in unpaid amortizations and interest, as mandated by Republic Act 11953, also known as the New Agrarian Emancipation Act.

Signed into law by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on 7 July 2023, the law aims to ease the debt burden — including unpaid amortizations, interests, and surcharges — of ARBs who received lands under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

“Save the money you earn from your land. Set it aside for your family. Use it to develop your land. Use it for your children’s education, because it now truly belongs to you,” Celeste told the farmers during the ceremony.

In addition to the CoCRoMs, Celeste, along with DAR Eastern Visayas Regional Director Robert Anthony Yu, also distributed 4,486 individual land titles covering over 6,000 hectares to 3,779 ARBs.