At stake is more than paperwork. For thousands of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs), the shift from collective to individual land titles represents a long-awaited step toward true ownership, economic security, and independence.
From Shared Titles to Individual Ownership
For years, many farmers held collective Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs), documents that grouped multiple beneficiaries under a single land title. While intended to streamline agrarian reform, these collective titles often led to disputes, unclear boundaries, and limited economic use of the land.
The SPLIT Project seeks to resolve this by subdividing collective CLOAs into individual titles, giving each farmer a clearly defined parcel. The logic is straightforward: when ownership is clear, farmers are more likely to invest in their land, access credit, and increase productivity.
Progress with Caution
According to the latest World Bank implementation report, the project is making “moderately satisfactory” progress—a rating that reflects steady gains, but also acknowledges ongoing hurdles.
Field operations have expanded, and parcelization efforts are moving forward across multiple regions. Yet the pace remains uneven. Surveying challenges, documentation gaps, and coordination issues among implementing agencies continue to slow down full-scale rollout.
Despite these constraints, the momentum is notable. Compared to earlier phases marked by delays, the project has shown measurable improvement in execution and output delivery.
Risks Beneath the Surface
The report underscores a persistent reality: agrarian reform is inherently complex. The SPLIT Project continues to operate under a “substantial risk” environment, shaped by factors such as:
- Overlapping land claims and legal disputes
- Fragmented land records and outdated documentation
- Institutional coordination gaps among government agencies
- Capacity limitations in field-level implementation
These are not new problems, but they remain deeply embedded in the system, requiring more than technical fixes.
Beyond Titles: The Bigger Rural Question
While land titling is a critical milestone, experts caution that it is only one piece of a larger rural development puzzle. Ownership alone does not guarantee higher incomes.
Farmers still need access to credit, farm-to-market roads, irrigation, and extension services. Without these, the economic promise of land ownership may remain unrealized.
Still, securing individual titles is widely seen as a foundational reform—one that can unlock broader opportunities when paired with sustained government support.
A Reform That Tests Governance
More than a land project, SPLIT has become a test of institutional coordination and governance. Its success depends not just on surveying land, but on aligning agencies, resolving disputes, and maintaining data integrity across thousands of parcels.
In this sense, the project reflects a deeper truth: agrarian reform is as much about systems as it is about soil.
Looking Ahead
As implementation continues, the challenge will be balancing speed and accuracy, ensuring that titles are issued efficiently without compromising legal soundness.
For now, the story of SPLIT is one of cautious progress. It is a reform moving forward, step by step, across fields and communities—reshaping land ownership in ways that could define the future of rural development in the Philippines.
And for the farmers waiting on the ground, each title released is more than a document. It is a promise, of clarity, of control, and of a more secure tomorrow.
Source: The World Bank Implementation & Results Report SPLIT Project
Related article: Environmental and Social Dimensions of the SPLIT Project
