STA. BARBARA-  “Mula noon, sa pagsasaka lang namin kinukuha ang aming ikinabububuhay at dahil dito nakapagpatayo ako ng matatag na bahay para sa aking pamilya at napag-aral ko ang aking mga anak.”

This was shared by Florentino Aquino, a 69-year old farmer and a resident of Barangay Leet in Sta. Barbara town, who has tilled a farm land for over 50 years.

As a farm worker since 1968, Aquino recalled that he started plowing a farm at age 19 after finishing high school.

It was In 1990, through the Land Acquisition and Distribution (LAD) operation under the Land Tenure Services of the DAR, when Aquino acquired his transfer certificate title entitling him with a parcel of agricultural land with at least 10, 427 square meters.

Aquino and wife Corazon have seven boys and three girls.

“Dahil sa lupa na binigay ng DAR at sa pagsisikap, napagtapos ko ang aking anim na anak sa kolehiyo at ang apat naman ay nakakuha ng vocational courses,” Aquino said.

“Noon kasi partihan ang kita pagkatapos ng anihan, 40 percent ang makukuha ng may-ari ng lupa at 60 percent naman ang paghahatian ng mga tenants pero ngayong amin na ang lupa, masaya na ang pamilya dahil sa agrarian reform, 100 percent na kita ay buong sa amin na lamang na mga magsasaka,” he added.

Aquino, with his production of 130 cavans of palay per hectare per cropping season (gross) and additional income from his small piggery, now owns a concreted bungalow house with complete home furniture and appliances, two motorcycles and a bicycle that he uses daily for his cardio-exercise.

Aquino was one of the 78, 196 Pangasinense beneficiaries who was awarded with at least one hectare of agricultural land through the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) that is being implemented by DAR.

As of March 2018, DAR-Pangasinan has already distributed at least 82,089.9860 hectares of agricultural land and awarded certificate of land ownership to its beneficiaries in the province.  (PIA-1, Pangasinan)

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