A total of 44 families here have received the titles of the land they have been occupying for more than 50 years, under the government’s “Handog Titulo” program.

The distribution held on Friday was led by officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Bicol and the city government.

In an interview on Sunday, Mayor Noel Rosal said the title distribution was in line with the city’s commitment to give villagers the chance to own the public land they have been occupying for a long time.

He recognized the efforts of the city council for passing a resolution of support that expedited the land title distribution.

“Now that you are already holding the titles of your land, it means you are now the legitimate owners of your land,” Rosal said, addressing the recipients, whose houses sit along the coastline of Barangay Sabang that is facing the panoramic Albay Gulf.

Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer (PENRO) chief, Jerry Arena, on the other hand, said the 44 recipient families belong to the first batch of the total of 90 qualified beneficiaries of the program.

“The land titles for the remaining 46 families are now in the final processing. And maybe, next month, we will notify them for the distribution of their land titles,” he said in a statement.

Arena said his office is also taking the initiative of identifying potential recipients of their “Handog Titulo” program in other barangays of Legazpi.

Qualified for land titling are residents occupying not more than 500 square meters of public land, he noted.

William Orolfo, one of the land title recipients, admitted that he never had peace of mind through the years that they had been occupying their land.

“I was always anxious that anytime, we would be evicted since we did not have proof that we were the legitimate owner of the lot we were occupying. But this time, I am very happy that at last, we are now the owner of our land. Thanks to the ‘Handog Titulo’ program of the government,” the statement quoted him as saying in the local dialect.

Aside from Rosal and Arena, also present during the handing of land titles at the village’s covered court, were DENR Regional Executive Director for Bicol Francisco Milla, Jr., Vice Mayor Bobby Cristobal, vice president of the Liga ng mga Barangay Ismael Santillan, and the city councilors. (PNA)