PIAGAPO, Lanao del Sur (PIA)–Constituents of the municipality here who are seen to be potential agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) conveyed their gratitude to the state’s administration now, including the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), for the distribution of government-owned lands, specifically the Camp Keithley, to their occupants.
Camp Keithley is a military reservation that spans from the municipalities of Marantao, Saguiaran, and Piagapo to Marawi City, covering about 4,600 hectares.
Norjanah Matanog, a resident of Brgy. Bubo here expressed her thanks to the government on behalf of the people in her barangay for giving them an opportunity to legally own the land they are occupying right now.
“Nagpapasalamat kaming mga tao dito sa Piagapo, Lanao del Sur na mabigyan ng chance para makuha din namin ang land na matagal na sabi nila para sa gobyerno daw. Ngayon, nagpahintulot na ang gobyerno na ibigay sa amin. Alhamdulillah! Salamat kay Pangulong Duterte. Maganda ang programang ito para sa aming mamamayan,” she said during the validation of the DAR for potential ARBs Tuesday, September 28.
[We, the people here in Piagapo, Lanao del Sur, are thankful for giving a chance so that we will have the land which they say is for the government. Now, the government permits to give it to us. Alhamdulillah! Thank you to President Duterte. This program is wonderful for us constituents.]
Hadji Suweib Macondara, who has had a landholding in the municipality here for roughly 56 years already, also attested how grateful he is for the government’s effort of giving out parcels of land to the occupants in a costless means.
“Buti binigyan kami ng titulong walang bayad kaya nagpapasalamat kami. Malaking tulong ito,” he said.
[It is good that we will be given a title with no payment, that is why we are thankful. This is a big help.]
Earlier, the DAR shared that they target to finish their validation of the ARBs in the municipality of Piagapo before October ends so that further identification of the legitimate occupants may be conducted, followed by the survey of the area and the generation of the Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA), and eventually, the distribution of about 1,300 hectares of land. (CRG/PIA-Lanao del Sur)
