554 families now landowners – DENR
BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya: At least 523 land titles were distributed, entitling a total of 554 beneficiaries in Cagayan Valley (Region 2) as absolute owners of the land they have been occupying, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Lawyer Antonio Abawag, DENR Region 2 executive director, said the land titles under the DENR’s Handog Titulo Program (HTP) were distributed on separate occasions in the different provinces, highlighting the Lands Anniversary in September of this year. There were 31 patents awarded earlier this year.
Earlier, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu ordered all DENR regional offices and the Land Management Bureau to conduct a nationwide HTP in September in partnership with local government units (LGUs).
Abawag said 337 free patents were distributed in Nueva Vizcaya province, 80 land titles in Isabela province, 43 in Quirino province and 55 in Batanes island province.
He said the DENR will continue the partnership with the LGUs in the region to facilitate the processing of land titles.
“We commit to strengthen the DENR-LGU partnership in providing secure property rights for every landowner,” Abawag said.
Corie Corpuz, DENR Region 2 information officer, explained the HTP aims to expedite the processing and issuance of public land patents to qualified individuals.
She said the DENR’s HTP also seeks to achieve security of tenure for poverty alleviation and economic development, and through the land titles, revenue collection in the form of real property taxes increases providing inclusive economic growth.
Citing Republic Act 10023 or the “Residential Free Patent Act,” Corpuz said any Filipino citizen who has continuously possessed and occupied land, either by himself or through his predecessor-ininterest for at least 10 years, may qualify as a beneficiary.
The law provides for the judicial disposition of untitled public alienable and disposable lands through the more efficient and less costly free patent process, she added.