1. LAND TITLING IN THE PHILIPPINES: ADDRESSING CHALLENGES THROUGH A REFORM-ORIENTED FRAMEWORK
By: Atty. Emelyne V. Talabis
Acting Director
Land Management Bureau,
Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Philippines

2. PHILIPPINES Archipelago of more than 7,100 islands
Located in Southeast Asia
North – Japan, Hongkong, Taiwan and South Korea
South – Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia
West – Thailand
East – Pacific Ocean
Tropical Climate with two (2) seasons – rainy and dry
Three (3) major island groupings – Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao
About 300,000 square kilometres
Population – million as of August 2015

3. Status of Classification of Philippines’ Land Resources as of 2015
A & D LANDS
FOREST LANDS
47.79%
14,194,675 ha.
52.21%
15,509,555 ha.
TOTAL LAND AREA = 29,704,230 hectares
We would like to proceed with the presentation by giving you a brief situationer of the Philippines land sector….
Our land resource is finite…we have a total land area of 30 million hectares. And only 47% of this area can be alienated or be subjected to settlements, production and for other purposes.

4. Article XII, Section 2, 1987 Philippine Constitution
“All lands of the public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum, and other mineral oils, all forces of potential energy, fisheries, forests or timber, wildlife, flora and fauna, and other natural resources are owned by the State. With the exception of agricultural lands, all other natural resources shall not be alienated. The exploration, development, and utilization of natural resources shall be under the full control and supervision of the State.” (underscoring supplied)

5. Republic Act No. 8371 or the Indigenous People’s Rights Act (IPRA) of 1992
“SECTION 4.  Concept of Ancestral Lands/Domains. — Ancestral lands/ domains shall include such concepts of territories which cover not only the physical environment but the total environment including the spiritual and cultural bonds to the areas which the ICCs/IPs possess, occupy and use and to which they have claims of ownership.
SECTION 5.  Indigenous Concept of Ownership. — Indigenous concept of ownership sustains the view that ancestral domains and all resources found therein shall serve as the material bases of their cultural integrity. The indigenous concept of ownership generally holds that ancestral domains are the ICC’s/IP’s private but community property which belongs to all generations and therefore cannot be sold, disposed or destroyed. It likewise covers sustainable traditional resource rights.

6. National Commission on Indigenous Peoples Administrative Order No
National Commission on Indigenous Peoples Administrative Order No. 1 Series of (Rules and Regulations Implementing Republic Act No. 8371)
Section 4. Recognition of Ancestral Domain and Land Rights. The rights of the ICCs/IPs to their ancestral domains and lands by virtue of native title shall be recognized and respected. Native title to ancestral domains and lands may be formally recognized or established through the issuance of corresponding Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) or Certificate of Ancestral Land Title (CALT) as provided in the Act. All areas within ancestral domains, whether delineated or not, are presumed to be communally owned and, pursuant to the indigenous concept of ownership, could not be sold, disposed nor destroyed.”

7. Administratively Titled Total A and D Lands = 14,194,675 hectares
Status of Land Titling
Remaining Untitled A and D
538,995 (ha)
Non agricultural (road network, open spaces) 9% 4% 7%
1,966,836 (ha.)
Administratively Titled
14%
66%
Total A and D Lands = 14,194,675 hectares

8. PHILIPPINES’ LAND TITLING SYSTEM
Torrens system of land registration
On November 6, 1902, the Philippine Commission enacted Act 496, known as Land Registration Law. This provided for the creation of the Court of Land Registration (CLR), the office of the Registers of Deeds and of the institution in this country of the Torrens System of registration whereby real estate ownership may be judicially confirmed and recorded in the archives of the government
Presidential Decree No known as the Property Registration Decree was issued on June 11, It amended and codified the laws relative to registration of property in order to facilitate the effective implementation of said laws. It was also intended strengthen and simplify registration proceedings and the issuance of certificates of title

9. Two modes of land titling
judicial mode of titling is done through filing a petition for land registration in the Courts based on the Property Registration Act or Presidential Decree No or Commonwealth Act No. 141
titling through administrative mode is done by multiple administrative agencies, each having their respective mandates provided under the laws with corresponding rules and regulations
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR)
National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP)

10. LAND TITLING PROCESS Valuation / Taxation C L A S S I F I C A T I O N
ADMINISTRATIVE
Patents (DENR)
CLOAs (DAR)
CADTs/CALTs
(NCIP)
C L A S S I F I C A T I O N
Valuation / Taxation
REGISTRATION (LRA, ROD)
Original (OCT)
Subsequent
(TCT)
SURVEY (DENR)
Control
Political
Boundary
Land Parcel
TITLING
JUDICIAL (Courts)
Decree
- Voluntary
- Compulsory
(Cadastral
Proceedings)

11. Mandates DENR LRA/ ROD DAR NCIP LGU/ BIR X 1. Land Classification
2. Survey and Mapping
3. Titling
4. Original and subsequent Registration
5. Property Valuation/ Appraisal
6. Subsequent survey

12. AGENCIES WITH LAND RELATED SERVICES

13. SECTORAL SITUATION Ineffective and inefficient
coordination of land administration
institutions
Inconsistent &
outdated land laws
and policy
delays
high costs
fake and spurious titles
conflicts, court litigation
limited access to tenure system
weak land governance
- low investments affecting
economic growth
Clients and users
of the Land Administration and Management System
Unnecessary steps and requirements
Inappropriate valuation and
taxation on land
ownership and transfers
In the present situation, clients and users of land administration will have to surpass the confusions brought about by the inconsistent and outdated land policy, will test their patience by ineffective and inefficient land administration institutions, will have to burdened by ineffective land valuation and inappropriate taxation on land ownership and transfers. These situations resulted to the dysfunctional land market that reduces opportunities to the poor, threatens the country’s economic development, global competitiveness and sustainable management of resources.

14. IMPLEMENTATION OF REFORMS
adoption of the Systematic Adjudication Approach in land titling
DENR Administrative Order No dated June 18, entitled “Prescribing the Systematic Adjudication Process to Simplify, Streamline and Fast Track the Disposition of Public Alienable and Disposable Lands Through Free and Homestead Patents
implementation of the Land Administration and Management System (LAMS)
DENR Administrative Order No dated June 23, 2010 entitled “Improving Management of Land Information Through the Adoption of the Land Administration and Management System (LAMS)”

15. IMPLEMENTATION OF REFORMS
legislative proposal entitled “The Land Administration Reform Act (LARA)” is being pursued. This Bill proposes the merging of the land administration agencies into a single agency, to be called Land Administration Authority (LAA,) as the first step in achieving land administration reform
completion of the cadastral survey of the entire country last 2015
Republic Act No , or the Residential Free Patent Law

16. IMPLEMENTATION OF REFORMS
policies and strategies to strengthen the coordination and linkaging between and among land titling agencies
adoption of Joint DAR-DENR-NCIP-LRA Administrative Order (JAO) No. 1 Series of 2012 entitled “Clarifying, Restating and Interfacing the Respective Jurisdictions, Policies, Programs and Projects of the DAR, DENR, NCIP AND LRA in order to Address Jurisdictional and Operational Issues Between and Among the Agencies” and its implementing rules per Joint DAR-DENR-NCIP-LRA Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 08 series of 2012
adoption and implementation of a one-control map that will provide a single digital map projection among all land titling agencies to incorporate all existing survey plans in one projection or base map for easy access, sharing and data management

17. The 20-year Land Sector Development Framework ( 2010-2030)
Vision – a world-class efficient land administration and management system geared towards sustainable and equitable socio-economic growth of the Filipino people
Mission – The mission of the sector is to:
Provide tenure security by accelerating formal recognition of all rights and providing effective and efficient LAM services
Provide effective management of public and government owned land for the benefit of present and future Filipinos and promote optimal use and sustainable management of land and natural resources
Establish an effective and transparent property valuation and taxation system to stimulate the real property market and maximize property revenue; and
Develop an integrated Land Information System harnessing modern ICT in support of LAM functions and e-government services
Guiding principles: Equity, Efficiency, Accountability, Partnerships, Demand driven reform, Subsidiarity
Policy Themes/Strategic Policy Statements: Land Management, Land Administration, Land Information Management, Property Valuation and Taxation
Enabling Platform: Legislative and Institutional Framework, Capacity Building, ICT and Fiscal and Resource Mobilization
Strategies
Land Adminis-tration
Public Land Management
Land Information Management
Property Valuation Taxation and Fees
Enabling Environment

18. ADDRESSING CHALLENGES
Access to a complete, updated and accurate spatially referenced land information
Need for clear and strong legal and institutional framework between and among land titling agencies
Completion of original land titling
Need to address food security and disaster management issues
Selling the entire reform system and making the people accept and embrace them as a new way of life

19. WAY FORWARD
Work on the integrated access to land information and land administration and management services through data standardization and harmonization with strong Information Technology (IT) support
Adoption of a more aggressive advocacy at the legislative, institutional and public level in pursuing reforms for a deeper and more active engagement of all land management stakeholders (holding of fora, conventions and other public symposia)
Active participation of local government units in land survey and titling through Systematic Adjudication should be promoted towards improved revenue generation and local land use and development planning

20. WAY FORWARD
Adoption and operationalization of the Item 6 of the 0-10-Point Socio-economic Agenda of the current Administration at the National Agencies and local government levels particularly on their respective systems and procedures of land management, titling and registration
Updating of various researches and studies on land administration and management to be at par with current international trends and practices
Engagement of support from the various stakeholders, both local and international, to encourage and explore more programs, projects and policies in pursuing and sustaining reforms

21. 10-Point Socio-economic Agenda of the Current Administration
Agenda No. 6 :
“Ensure security of land tenure to encourage investments, and address bottlenecks in land management and titling agencies.”

22. Thank You for listening!