The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has intensified its validation of agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in Hilongos, Leyte, to facilitate the issuance of individual land titles under the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) project.
This initiative is part of the government’s efforts to improve land tenure security and strengthen property rights for former rebels who surrendered under the End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) program.
A farmer and former rebel, Armando (not his real name), expressed gratitude for the DAR’s assistance in saving him from paying exorbitant fees for subdivision surveys and land title applications. Armando, who was awarded a collective Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) in 2000, received significant benefits from the SPLIT project.
Armando, 59, who was awarded a collective Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) in 2000 after surrendering to authorities in 1994, shared his appreciation for the assistance provided by DAR.
On August 28, Municipal Agrarian Reform Program Officer (MARPO) Ruben Rebato, along with his field validation team, hiked for about an hour to the remote mountainous Barangay San Antonio to continue the validation of agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in 23 landholdings covered by collective CLOAs.
Seventy-five ARBs listed in the 23 collective CLOAs, covering an aggregate area of 180.8720 hectares of farmland, were validated. Rebato explained that this is the initial stage, followed by a subdivision survey to locate the exact area of the beneficiaries before individual land titles can be issued.
The SPLIT project, funded by the World Bank, aims to subdivide landholdings covered by collective CLOAs and replace them with individual electronically generated land titles to improve land tenure security and strengthen property rights of the ARBs.
Armando recounted that in 1984, their village was invaded by the New People’s Army (NPA), and many were forced to join.
However, with the presence of soldiers in their village in 1994, they decided to surrender, leading to their identification as potential beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
Land distribution is being contributed by DAR as part of the government’s effort to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC), a whole-of-nation approach to addressing insurgency problems in the country.