101-year-old farmer’s lifelong dream of land ownership becomes a reality as President Marcos awards land title after four decades

Semion A. Academia, a 101-year-old agrarian reform beneficiary (ARB) from Bais, Negros Oriental, finally achieved his lifelong dream of owning land after receiving his Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) from President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on May 20, during the distribution ceremony held at the Lamberto L. Macias Sports Complex in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental.

Academia is one of 2,426 ARBs that received land titles in Central Visayas, comprised of a total area of 2,866.5366 hectares in the provinces of Bohol, Cebu, and Negros Oriental.

"Maraming Salamat po kay President Marcos [dahil], malaki ang aking kasiyahan na nagawad na ang aking titulo sa lupang ginagamit ko sa pagsasaka," Academia responded when asked about finally receiving his land title.

Academia began work as a farmer in 1942 at age 18, planting cassava, sweet potatoes, and bananas. He now has seven (7) children and forty-two (42) grandchildren who can continues the family tradition.

“We still have a lot of agricultural land in the country to be cultivated and distributed. This is proof of our continued efforts to fulfill our promise that we will complete the agrarian reform program,” President Marcos said during his address before the ARBs.

He added that the DAR has distributed more than 4,000 hectares of land for 2024 in Central Visayas alone.

Farm machineries and equipment (FMEs) worth P17.5 million, including tractors, corn-millers, tillers, food dehydrators, and tricycles were turned over to seventeen (17) agrarian reform beneficiaries organizations (ARBOs) in Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor, which benefits 3,268 ARBs in the region.

Additionally, Farm-to-Market Road (FMR) Projects worth 100 million pesos covering over five (five) kilometers the municipalities of Amlan, Ayungan, Bais City, Bindoy, Dauin, Tanjay, and Tayasan, were turned over which improves the access of more than 3,100 beneficiaries to community markets.

DAR Secretary Conrado M. Estrella III echoed the directive of the President, as he said “‘Yan po ang utos ng ating mahal na pangulo, ang paunlarin ang buhay ng lahat ng mga agrarian reform beneficiaries," and underscored DAR’s ongoing and intensified efforts in