In his speech, President Duterte congratulated the farmers saying that they “rightfully deserve” the lands “as hardworking Filipinos.”
“I stand before you to say only one thing: Today is a victorious day for you, our farmers,” he said.
“I laud the efforts of the Department of Agrarian Reform for being instrumental in upholding the rights of our farmers to own, control, secure, cultivate and enhance their agricultural lands as well as to improve their quality of life,” he added.
The President encouraged the farmers to continue their duties of tilling the fields and bringing food on the table of every Filipino.
The President handed over CLOAs to 1,680 agrarian reform beneficiaries involving 4,266.2882 hectares of land. Among the recipients were 1,396 Muslim/Maguindanaoan, 227 Manobo/indigenous peoples and 23 Christians getting an average farm size of 2.55 hectares each.
