BAGUIO CITY (PIA) — After four decades of tilling the land he rented, William Montino of Camp 3, Tuba, Benguet can finally call it his own.
Thanks to the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) Project and land distribution program of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) under the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
Montino is among the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) who received land titles from DAR and through Project SPLIT.
He said that the sweat and hard work he put into that parcel of land yielded a bountiful harvest. He was able to send his children to school until they graduated in different fields, and now he has his own land.
“Isu ti maysa nga [rason a] napaturpos ko dagitoy ubbing ko nga nageskwela. Adda ti civil engineer nga tallo, adda ti maysa nga IT, adda ti maysa nga teacher,” Montino shared.
[This is one of the reason why I was able to send my children to school. I have three civil engineers, one IT, and one teacher.]
Montino expressed his gratitude to DAR and to the President for distributing lands to ARBs.
“Pasalamatak dagitoy empleyado ti DAR ditoy province, region, apo President Bongbong Marcos, apo Secretary Conrado Estrella III, salamat, salamat unay.”
[I thank the employees of DAR in the province, in the region, President Bongbong Marcos, Secretary Conrado Estrella III. Thank you very much.]
Elpedia Alos, an ARB from Atok, Benguet also expressed her gratitude to the government. Alos is among the 423 ARBs who received their land titles in a distribution activity held at Benguet State University recently.
“Buong-buo na masasabi namin, amin na ang aming mga titulo. Kahit gaano man ito kaliit, kahit papaano ay siyang pinagkukunan namin ng aming kabuhayan,” Alos expressed.
The DAR-Cordillera earlier reported that during the administration of President Marcos from 2022-2024, they were able to distribute around 824 hectares of land to 1,040 beneficiaries.
Project SPLIT, a flagship initiative funded by the World Bank, aims to benefit over 1.14 million ARBs by providing individual titles to approximately 1.38 million hectares of agricultural land through the subdivision of the collective Certificates of Land Ownership Award.
Project SPLIT which started in 2021 was supposed to end in 2024 but Pres. Marcos approved its extension until 2027. (DEG-PIA CAR )
