A TOTAL of 32 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in Escalante City took oath and signed the Application to Purchase and Farmer’s Undertaking (Apfu) as they qualify for the screening process to become land recipients recently.Farmers of the landholdings owned by Claudio Hervias identified with a total area of 12.2049 hectares situated at Barangay Malasibog in the northern Negros Occidental loaclity took oath before Judge Jose Meno C. Ruiz of the Escalante City Municipal Trial Court in Cities.Municipal Agrarian Reform Program Officer Maricel Seduco, who spoke at the activity, emphasized that as they take the oath and prepare as new owners of the land, farmer-beneficiaries should never forget the responsibility that comes with it. T“This oath-taking ceremony is the start of fulfilling your dreams,” she told the ARBs.The activity is one of the preliminary activities of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to acquire land under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (Carper).The agency is mandated to distribute government and private agricultural lands to landless farmers and farmworkers to secure the farmers’ land security, social equity, and provide them with the necessary productive resources needed to ensure their economic viability and productivity.It also covers all tenanted agricultural lands such as those in the retained areas, not yet acquired for distribution under Carp and those which may be validly covered under existing laws. (With PR)