Improving Land Tenure Security for Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries in the Philippines

"Mas gusto namin ang individual title. Magulo kasi sa collective title dahil hindi lahat magtratrabaho. May tamad. May masipag. Hindi magkasundo," said Thelma D. Pondolanan, 53, farmer and community organizer, and a former member of the armed New People's Army, a rebel group. ["We prefer individual titles. It's chaotic with collective titles because not everyone likes to work. Some are lazy. Some are hardworking. We don't get along."] In 2022, her group received their collective title under the CARP. Recently, the former rebels, including Thelma, were among the recipients of e-title generated under the SPLIT Project of the Department of Agrarian Reform. Each of the former rebels in San Isidro was awarded with 2,000 sq m. lot.

Challenge

In 1988, the Philippines passed an agrarian reform law and implemented the CARP to improve the lives of small farmers by offering them secure land rights and support services. Over the past several decades, CARP has distributed 4.8 million hectares-16 percent of the nation's land-to almost three million ARBs. However, only approximately 53 percent of the distributed land was in the form of individual titles. Collective titles reduce the incentives for farmers to invest in their land due to the lack of individual security and clarity of rights to their land holdings. Especially in the 1990s, the government issued mostly Collective Certificates Land Ownership Award (CCLOAs) to speed up land distribution, with the intention of subdividing and titling them individually at a future time. This incomplete assignment of property rights prevents ARBs from individually managing their land, securing the rights of their spouse and children, accessing credit and serves as a disincentive for small farmers to increase investment and productivity.

Approach

Through the SPLIT Project, the World Bank is helping the country's efforts to enhance land tenure security and stabilize property rights for ARBs. The project aims to accelerate the subdivision of CCLOAs into individual land parcels and issue individual titles. This process involves field validation, preparation of survey plans and legal documentation, farmer beneficiary screening, and the generation and distribution of individual titles. By issuing individual titles, ARBs will have more secure property rights, providing them with greater decision making and incentives to make land improvements, which can lead to increased farm productivity and household incomes. This initiative can help reduce poverty and promote economic growth in rural areas.

Results

• As of July 2025, a total of 163,176 individual electronic titles has been issued under the project, with 84 percent bearing female names.
• When completed, around 750,000 agrarian reform beneficiaries are expected to gain improved land tenure security and stable property rights for over 1.3 million hectares of land granted under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
• DAR is implementing digital transformation of systems and services with the support of the project.

Bank Goup Contribution

The World Bank provided US$370 million for the SPLIT Project. The World Bank has also obtained a PROGREEN grant amounting to US$300,000 that supported the project and the government in clarifying tenure rights in forest landscapes and ancestral domains. It supported the harmonization of the procedures for recognition and clarification of land rights, bridging the forest/non-forest boundaries in support of territorial land distribution and management and more sustainable landscape management. In addition, the Korean Trust Fund for Economic and Peace-Building Transitions supported the project with US$350,000 grant by piloting new technologies (drones, smartphones) to enhance field validation, communication, beneficiary and risk screening and monitoring and evaluation.

Partners

The SPLIT Project is implemented by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). There are multiple agencies with varying mandates and roles in the parcelization process besides DAR, including Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), and Land Registration Authority (LRA)/Register of Deeds (ROD).

Looking Ahead

The SPLIT Project reflects the first phase of support to ARBs by clarifying their rights and issuing individual titles. A second phase of providing support services to these ARBs is currently under discussion.