THE PHILIPPINES is seeking a three-year extension for the $370-million project loan from the World Bank to support land reform, with the loan nearing its year-end closing date.
This extension request follows a low disbursement rate and an 18-month implementation delay, it added.
The Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) project, initially approved in 2020, sought to improve land tenure security and stabilize the property rights of agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs).
It covers 1.3 million hectares (ha) of land and is set to assist 750,000 ARBs. The project also supports the parcelization or subdivision and titling of 139,000 Collective Certificates of Land Ownership Awards (CLOAs) into individual CLOAs.
“The government is requesting a 36-month extension of the closing date to allow additional time to complete the Project Development Objectives (PDO),” the World Bank said in a document posted on its website on Thursday.
It added that the restructuring will not affect the project targets, financing, or institutional and implementation arrangements.
The bank said that in May, it discussed the project with the government and identified the key bottlenecks.
The two sides also agreed on a Restructuring Action Plan designed to ensure improved project performance.
According to the document, the PDO “remains achievable within the extended timeframe.”
“The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), with the support from the bank, is also exploring the possibility of introducing Framework contracts for survey packages in 2025, to further expedite procurement of the remaining 80% of the Collective CLOAs (approximately 1 million hectares),” it said.
It said the parcelization plan for the extension aims to complete the remaining 10% of field validation or 50,000 ha in the first quarter of 2025 while finalizing the second 2024 package of 220,000 ha.
It said that in the first quarter of 2025, it expects the procurement of two additional large survey packages of 200,000 ha each in 2025 and one package in 2026.
Meanwhile, the remaining 170,000 ha are set to be completed through an administrative (in-house) survey in 2025-2026.
DAR has registered 113,474 or 16% of individual eTitles with the Land Registration Authority and 109,047 e-Titles have been issued which is 15% of the target of 750,000 ARBs.
More than 80% of the titles issued have female names on them, either as the primary beneficiary or as co-owner, exceeding the 45% target, it said.
Factors behind the delays include pandemic restrictions which hindered meetings with beneficiaries and field validation activities, which are the first steps in the titling process.
Additionally, the World Bank said the SPLIT project currently disbursed $149.62 million out of the $370-million loan, or a 40.44% disbursement rate.
“The delayed and insufficient fund releases led to significant delays in the procurement of field personnel, consultants, and goods,” it said.
The project aims to disburse $30 million in 2025, $90 million in 2026, $80 million in 2027, and $20.38 million in 2028, the document said. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante