LEGAZPI CITY, Albay (PIA) – For 79-year-old Jimena Naag Bañadera, a resident of Barangay Pulang Daga in Balatan, Camarines Sur, the dream of officially owning the land she has tilled for over fifty years has finally become a reality.
During a recent land title distribution ceremony, Bañadera was among the beneficiaries who received an individual land title for her three-hectare farm in her home barangay.
“Malaki pong pasasalamat sa ating Presidente Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr., at sa Department of Agrarian Reform, at sa wakas, nabigyan na rin kami ng individual title,” she said.
(I am deeply grateful to our President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) and to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). At long last, we have finally been given our individual land title.)
“Maraming taon ko na pong hinihintay at ngayon po na ibibigay na, sobrang tuwa ko po (I have waited many years for this moment, and now that it is finally being awarded, I am truly overjoyed),” she added.
Bañadera said in an interview with PIA Bicol that although she and her family have been farming the area for five decades, it took eight years of diligent processing with the DAR provincial office before the title was finally released.
The title distribution was part of the government’s intensified efforts through the DAR and Project SPLIT (Subdivision of Collector Titles into Individual Land Titles), a program aimed at providing farmers with clear, legal ownership of their specific land portions.
DAR Undersecretary Kazel Celeste said that the milestone aligned with President Marcos’ commitment to agrarian justice, highlighted by the New Agrarian Emancipation Act (NAEA).
While the NAEA focuses on condoning debts and interest for agrarian reform beneficiaries to ensure they are truly free from financial burdens, the distribution of individual titles remains a cornerstone of the President’s vision for a more productive agricultural sector, Celeste added.
Bañadera expressed profound gratitude to the President and the DAR, saying her husband was also a beneficiary of the program.
The three hectares she now officially owns were originally part of a 23-hectare property belonging to her husband’s grandfather, she said.
“I am very grateful to PBBM because, finally, I can hold the title to our land,” she said, expressing her joy after years of waiting.
Despite the lengthy process to secure her title, Bañadera offered encouragement to fellow farmers in Camarines Sur who are still waiting for their documents.
Addressing fellow farmers, she advised: “Huwag kayong mawalan ng pag-asa, dahil alam ko po na hindi nagpapabaya ang DAR.”
(Don’t lose hope; I believe that DAR is keeping its promises to the landless.)
“Makakamtan din ninyo ang titulong hinahangad ninyo (You will eventually receive the land title you have been hoping for),” she added.
With her individual title now in hand, Bañadera looks forward to a more secure future for her family, hoping that the remaining portions of their ancestral land will soon be titled in her children’s names as well.
Source: PIA Bicol