Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III ordered the Department of Agriculture to speed up the issuance of land ownership certificates and support services to target beneficiaries.

“Let us be proactive in serving our farmers through land distribution and provision of much-needed support services,” Estrella said during the department's yearend performance review and planning conference held in Angeles City on 7 March.

The activity was conducted to ensure that targets were met and the development thrusts of the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. were integrated into the programs and services of DAR.

The Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) project under the agrarian reform program endeavors to cover more government-owned agricultural lands for distribution to landless farmers.

“Our President, from the beginning, has been championing the cause of the small farmers. We assure you that all our efforts will be in their best interest and the improvement of the agricultural sector,” Estrella said.

“We will exhaust all means to distribute to the ARBs their land titles immediately. We will do our best to finish the distribution before the end of the President’s term in 2028. Once these titles are in their hands, nobody can deny them their right to their lands,” he added.

The SPLIT project aims to subdivide the collective certificate of landownership award (CLOA) into smaller farm lots, granting agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) full ownership and possession of their land shares.

He added that since the landholdings were awarded through the Collective CLOAs, as soon as the ARBs receive their individual titles, they will be covered by RA 11953 or the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, which condones all agrarian reform debt, including interests, penalties, and surcharges incurred by ARBs from the lands awarded to them by the government.

The Secretary said the department will facilitate the land title processing with partner government agencies so that the DAR can speed up their issuance.

“Land distributed under the Project SPLIT will improve their land tenure security and strengthen their property rights, allowing them to invest in their land and gain access to credit and other land market opportunities,” Estrella said.

He also emphasized the importance of forming agrarian reform beneficiaries’ organizations (ARBOs). It is through ARBOs that the DAR courses through its various support services.

He ordered the DAR regional offices to look for all CLOA and non-CLOA holders even in far-flung barangays, to visit them and encourage them to become members of ARBOs.

“The fastest and easiest way for farmers to get support services and assistance is if they are members of ARBOs,” Estrella said.

To meet department targets, Estrella ordered each DAR office to draw up a contract stating their targets and their commitment to accomplish the tasks for the year.

“I want this done to ensure that we properly implement our mandate and deliver the support services to our farmer-beneficiaries. This is our way of bringing the government closer to our farmers,” Estrella said.

Estrella also directed his officials to implement agrarian reform laws to aid in fighting for farmers’ rights and expediting agrarian legal cases.

The assessment is an annual activity of the DAR to ensure the transparency and accountability of the agrarian reform program.