THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has vowed to fast-track land titling procedures in the country, although the term of the department’s acting secretary will end on June 30.
The system of land titles processing and distribution has been dogged with challenges through the years, with graft and corruption rampant in the few offices that handle this government activity. It is, however, an essential element in the government’s campaign to end land feuds, and by extension, the decades-old communist insurgency.
Environment Acting Secretary Jim O. Sampulna said the delays in land titling procedures are reportedly being capitalized by communist rebels to fuel anger among indigenous peoples who are misled on the issue of ancestral domain.
‘As President Duterte nears the end of his term, the DENR is on the right track in processing land title applications aside from ensuring that the nation’s natural resources — forestry, mines, marine and land environments — are managed and preserved for the next generations.’
In the case of Marawi City, meanwhile, the devastation and leveling of the city and efforts to reconstruct houses of residents uncovered the large-scale problem of lack of land titles.
Acting Secretary Sampulna said he had already urged the Land Management Bureau (LMB) and other DENR offices to initiate processes that would expedite the land-titling procedures.
In a recent event in Butuan City, the government distributed 7,000 land patents, in compliance with President Duterte’s order to fast-track land distribution as a counter-insurgency measure in the provinces. Sampulna also directed the DENR’s regional officials to fast-track the distribution of lands until the end of the year.
Republic Act 10023 or the Residential Free Patent Act mandates the DENR to accept and process applications for free patent titles of residential lands.
As President Duterte nears the end of his term, the DENR is on the right track in processing land title applications aside from ensuring that the nation’s natural resources — forestry, mines, marine and land environments — are managed and preserved for the next generations.
