Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Secretary Bernie Cruz has distributed a total of 179 electronic land titles (e-titles) to agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) of Western Visayas under the agency’s Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) Project.

“The ‘e-titles’ issued here in Ibajay, Aklan, that were made possible under the Land Registration Authority’s new computerized system, are the first e-titles distributed to our farmer-beneficiaries nationwide,” Cruz said in a news release on Sunday.

He disclosed the SPLIT project intends to fast-track the land subdivision or parcelization of Collective Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CCLOAs) of about 1.368 million hectares of lands nationwide.

“Issuing separate titles for each farmer-beneficiary is better because it enables them to have a clear and defined ownership of the parcels of land they are tilling,” he said.

Lawyer Sheila Enciso, Western Visayas Regional Director, said under the SPLIT project, the DAR would parcelize the awarded lands covered by a CCLOA.

This, she said, would mean that each farmer beneficiary would be given an individual land title based on the actual area or a particular portion of land they are tilling.

“The 179 e-tiles distributed to 161 ARBs are located in Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, Negros Occidental 1 and Negros Occidental 2 covering a total of 249.8389 hectares of agricultural lands,” Enciso said.

Enciso credited the hard work, commitment, and dedication of the DAR-Western Visayas personnel, together with the DAR-SPLIT team, partner-agencies, and ARBs for the smooth implementation of the project.

Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer Ma. Teresa Valencia said the project resolved conflict in allocating and delineating lands from the CCLOAs issued in the earlier phase of the program.

She disclosed that in the province of Aklan, the 89 e-tiles or Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) distributed to seventy-eight (78) ARBs covering a total of 169 hectares of agricultural lands, are broken down into 13 e-tiles from Feliciano and 76 from Oquendo, Balete.

“This move will give leverage to farmers to freely decide on how to till their lands for optimum production,” Valencia said.