DAR trains personnel to strengthen land tenure rights case handling
By Susil D. Ragas
SURIGAO CITY, Surigao del Norte (PIA) — To streamline legal processes and safeguard land tenure rights, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), through the Project Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT), conducted an intensive seminar-writeshop for field personnel on Administrative Legal Issues (ALI) Case Procedures and Case Build-up Preparation.
Held on October 7- 8 in Siargao Island, Surigao del Norte, the initiative focused on strengthening the technical and legal capacities of key field personnel who manage administrative legal challenges. Emphasizing strict adherence to established legal frameworks, the workshop prioritized proper case documentation, procedural compliance, and the systematic assembly and evaluation of supporting records.
Through interactive lectures, group case studies, and hands-on writeshop exercises, participants analysed real-world scenarios, identified legal bottlenecks, and refined their approach to drafting comprehensive case briefs. The practical sessions aimed to standardise case build-up protocols across offices, ensuring faster turnaround times for legal evaluation and resolution.
Legal Services Division Chief, Attorney Joseph B. Nacario, underscored the critical role of sound case preparation in overcoming operational obstacles under Project SPLIT.
“The activity is part of DAR’s continuing efforts to address legal and administrative issues encountered in the parcelization of collective Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) and the issuance of individual land titles to qualified agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs),” he said.
“In the field, technical verification and legal resolution must go hand in hand. This workshop gave us concrete tools to properly bridge technical field findings with legal requirements, ensuring that cases are complete and legally sound before submission. Ultimately, this speeds up the process of getting individual titles into the hands of our farmers,” he added.
Key highlights of the activity include targeted capacity building on resolving complex legal challenges specific to collective CLOA subdivision; hands-on exercises on drafting and case-build-up simulations based on actual field scenarios; and improved coordination among legal, technical, and field operations teams to streamline documentation workflows.
By fortifying legal mechanisms and building team capability at the field level, DAR continues to accelerate land titling processes, secure land ownership for farmers, and advance sustainable rural development across the region. (SDR, PIA Surigao del Norte with a report from DAR Surigao del Norte)
