SAN FERNANDO CITY, July 1 (PIA) -- The Department of Agrarian Reform in Ilocos (DAR-1) has stepped up the implementation of the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) project in the region amid the COVID- 19 pandemic.

During the Kapihan sa Ilocos of the Philippine Information Agency-Region 1 on Wednesday, DAR-1 Regional Director Primo Lara said the SPLIT project is one of the priority programs of the agency under the Land Tenure Security Program (LTSP) component.

“Region 1 is one of the three pilot areas identified for the implementation of the SPLIT project and the other pilot areas are Regions 8 and 9,” he said.

The project aims to hasten land subdivision/parcelization of Collective Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CCLOAs) and eventually issue individual land titles to agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), who were previously awarded with lands and collective CLOAs under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

Funded by the World Bank (WB), the SPLIT project has a total cost of P24.625 billion, comprising 78% loan proceeds amounting to P19.240 billion and 22%Government of the Philippines (GOP) counterpart amounting to P5.385 billion.

The project has started in October 2020 until 2024.

“For Region 1, we have targetted 13,533 hectares for the SPLIT project, and we already validated at least 6,500 hectares,” he said.

The SPLIT project is being implemented by DAR in partnership with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Land Registration Authority (LRA), Registry of Deeds (ROD), Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Aside from the LTSP component, Lara said the DAR in Ilocos is continuously providing the farm equipment and training supports for the ARBs through the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Development and Sustainability Program (ARBDSP).

“We have lined-up farming technology and business training for ARBs to make them not only as ordinary productive farmers but also as entrepreneurs,” he said.

According to Lara, the DAR provides free legal assistance to ARBs under the agency’s Agrarian Justice Delivery Program (AJDP).

DAR in Ilocos has also implemented the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty Program (EPAHPP), a partnership where government institutions converged to support the poor people in the countryside.

“Under the EPAHPP, we are conducting feeding programs to the poor residents at the grassroots level,” he said. (JCR/AMB/FGL, PIA 1)