A total of 574 hectares of land owned by the family of First Gentleman Mike Arroyo have been distributed to beneficiaries under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
The Department of Agrarian Reform said of the total, 120 hectares were awarded to 120 former tenants of the Arroyos’ Hacienda Manolita in Barangay Payana in Binalbagan, Negros Occidental.
Another 87 hectares, the DAR said, came from the Arroyos’ Hacienda Namulo in Barangay Calapi, Hinigiran town.
In Barangay Camang-Camang in Isabela town, 387 more hectares of land owned by the Arroyo family were distributed to agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs).
Hinigaran and Isabela are also both in Negros Occidental.
DAR officials said the beneficiaries expressed their appreciation not only to the First Gentleman but also to President Arroyo for giving them a chance to own the land that they had been tilling for years.