111 ARBs in Sarangani get e-titles from DAR
ONE hundred eleven agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in the province of Sarangani now own the lands they are tilling after receiving their electronic land titles (e-titles) from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).
The awarding of the e-titles is of DAR’s land parcelization activities to strengthen ARBs’ individual ownership of the lands they are actually tilling.
This undertaking is implemented under the Support to Parcelization of Land Through Individual Titling (SPLIT) Project, which aims to fast-track the subdivision of collective or co-owned Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CCLOA) into individual land parcels and issue individual titles.
In a ceremonial distribution of e-titles, H. Roldan Ali, Al-Haj, DAR-12 Assistant Regional Director, stressed that the ARBs greatly benefited from tilling their lands, as they were able to provide for the necessities of life, sending their children to school, and able to improve their living conditions.
“The parcelization of land is in line with the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III, to improve the ARBs’ security of tenure. Strengthening their property ownership will eventually lead to more successful agricultural ventures,” he said.
For his part, Anecito Hibanada, former Chairperson of Fleischer Estate Integrated Multi-purpose Cooperative (FEIMCO), explained although the previously issued CCLOA gave them rights to till their own lands, they experienced several controversies as there arose countless issues on management.
“In 1996, FEIIMCO was awarded 214 hectares. We encountered ups and downs as an ARB cooperative involving land ownership. But now differences and contentions will surely be avoided through the SPLIT Project and with God’s grace we proudly say that we have fully paid our amortization,” Hibanada said.
Meanwhile, Cenon Original, OIC-Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II, reported that at present, under the SPLIT Project, the DAR provincial office of Sarangani has already distributed 807 e-titles to 555 ARBs, covering an area of 816.2879 hectares.
