A total of 158 farmers previously awarded with collective certificates of land ownership award (CCLOA) are set to receive their individual land titles under the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) Project.

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said in a press release issued on Thursday that a total of 320 hectares of validated agricultural lands in Murcia, Negros Occidental will be subdivided to benefit the agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs).

Municipal Agrarian Reform Program Officer Imelda Lazalita said they have validated a total of 23.2658 hectares under CCLOA No. 7433 that will be subdivided to benefit 39 ARBs, and 297.6255 hectares under CCLOA No. 7750 to benefit 119 qualified ARBs.

Said landholdings, DAR said, were formerly managed by G.V. and Sons Incorporated.

“The activity would expedite the issuance of individual titles to the farmers, where its objective is to improve land tenure security and stabilize the property rights of ARBs occupying the CCLOAs,” Lazalita said.

Earlier, DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III said that its field validation teams have been directed to fast-track the subdivision of awarded CCLOAs by doing actual validation of relevant information necessary for the re-issuance of land titles.

Lazalita said that DAR conducted a consultation meeting between the ARBs and the field validation team to ensure the accuracy of relevant information, thus, the smooth validation of lands.

She added that in expediting the subdivision of land parcels and the issuance of individual titles, they also assured the accuracy of relevant information

The DAR said that farmers could not effectively utilize the land to earn income because they do not know the specific metes and bounds of the land given to each of them.

The individual titling would encourage the ARBs to improve their landholdings toward increased farm productivity and household incomes.

During the last Cabinet meeting, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. directed the DAR to step up its distribution of CLOA to qualified beneficiaries.

The SPLIT project aims to subdivide the lands previously given to the ARBs through collective CLOAs which would eventually be re-awarded through individual titles to the farmers. (PNA)