813 land titles awarded to farmers in Cordillera; P6.62M loans condoned

Tabuk City, Kalinga - Hundreds of farmers across the region were awarded ownership of the land they till and were freed from agrarian debt through the distribution event led by Department of Agrarian Reform - Cordillera and the World Bank at Davidson Hotel, Tabuk City, Kalinga on August 1, 2025.

The event is part of the government’s Support to Parcelation of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) project, with 813 electronic land titles (e-titles) and Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) issued to Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) from the provinces in the region.

E-titles and CLOAs

The 813 e-titles and CLOAs cover a combined 351.33 hectares (ha) of farmland formally turned over to farmers who have long tilled the land.

Of the figure, 439 ARBs from Abra received the lion’s share with 596 land titles covering 124.21 ha, followed by 138 recipients from Kalinga with 138 land titles covering 131.82 ha, as shown in the data from DAR - Cordillera.

Meanwhile, 31 beneficiaries from Benguet got 27 land titles covering 38.47 ha; 21 ARBs from Ifugao received 23 land titles (34.93 ha); 14 farmer-recipients from Mt. Province got 17 titles (11.40 ha); and 11 ARBs from Apayao were granted 12 land titles (10.50 ha.)

P6.62 million in agrarian loans condoned

In addition, a total of P6.62 million in agrarian debts were waived or wiped out through the issuance of Certificates of Condonation and Release of Mortgage (CoCRoMs) to 135 farmer-beneficiaries.

Of the total ARBs, Kalinga accounted for 134 recipients with certificates covering 72.7578 ha and P6,555,611.70 in condoned loans, while a beneficiary from Benguet was awarded CoCRoM for 0.44361 ha and P68,831.15 loan.

Modern Tools for ARBOs

To boost the productivity of two Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries’ Organizations (ARBOs) in Kalinga, namely, Urnos Bayabat RIC Marketing Cooperative in Tabuk and Rang-ay San Quintin Farmers Association in Rizal, the department awarded them P3 million worth of farm machinery and equipment.

Said support is expected to benefit over a hundred ARBs in the area.

Stronger rights, stronger livelihoods

In her talk during the event, Senior Land Administration Specialist of the World Bank, Katherine Kelm, stressed the initiative aims to help farmers gain greater security over their land, foster investment, and improve the farmers’ livelihood.

“At the World Bank, our global experience demonstrates that securing land rights can contribute to increased agricultural productivity, to enhance food security,” Kelm underscored.

For his part, Regional Director of DAR - Cordillera, Rodrigo O. Realubit reiterated that only landless and qualified farmers are eligible, and that beneficiaries should cultivate the land and not sell or pawn the titles or ownership granted to them, otherwise their rights can be revoked.

1,027 hectares await distribution

Realubit said 1,027 hectares of ‘problematic lands’ are yet to be distributed in the region. This, he explained, is due to technical and ‘operational problems’ that the regional department is working to resolve.

DAR - Cordillera eyes to complete the distribution of lands still in limbo before the Marcos administration ends in 2028.