DAR Pangasinan - Distribution of COCROM: ARB Salvador Marugay Sr. in Focus

Pangasinan is not the furthest that the 79-year-old Salvador Marugay, Sr. has gone to – Laguna taking the first spot – but something about his nine-hour travel from his hometown in Ilocos Norte to Lingayen took the top spot. A farmer since the fresh age of 18 years, his journey from being a teenager burdened with the land he tills, to an agrarian reform beneficiary (ARB) freed from the shackles of debt – took him more than six decades.

Salvador was one of the 12 chosen ARBs to personally receive their respective Certificates of Condonation with Release of Mortgage (COCROM) from no less than President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself – and one of the hundreds of other Ilokano and Pangasinense ARBs to receive theirs in the nation’s historic, first-ever distribution of COCROMs to ARBs on July 19, 2024 in Lingayen.

“Nagpapasalamat ako sa desisyon ng pamahalaan ng Pilipinas dahil ang utang ko ay natanggal na, tinanggal ni Apo Presidente Bongbong Marcos,” Salvador shared.

In his ba-ag attire, Salvador offered a song of gratitude. Although unsure if his audience understood his lyrical poetry in his native tongue of Isneg, he sang his emotions in a language understood by all.

In addition to planting palay and vegetables here, the land awarded to him under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program serves as his home with his wife, Mabonna, a place he now calls truly his own.

READ: Pinakaunang pamamahagi ng Certificate of Condonation para sa pinatawad na utang ng mga agrarian reform beneficiary, ginanap sa Pangasinan https://bit.ly/FirstCOCROMAwardingintheCountry