As of October: DENR-7 issue thousands of land titles

CEBU, Philippines – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources-7 has recently issued a total of 11,222 land titles in Central Visayas as of October 23 this year.

DENR-7 executive director Isabelo Montejo said that of the total number of land titles issued, 9,408 titles were mainly agricultural lands handed in to farm owners in the four provinces in the region, while the other 1,814 titles were all residential free patents.

Citing DENR’s report, Cebu province received 1,583 agricultural patents and 358 residential patents; Bohol with 7,174 and 985; Negros Oriental with 360 and 400; and Siquijor province with 291 agricultural land titles and 71 residential patents.

This issuance marks 94 percent and 70 percent accomplishment against the target of issuing 10,000 agricultural land titles and 2,580 residential titles for 2015, respectively.

“The patent issuance and distribution is a priority program that the DENR has been putting its energy and resources on aside from the other equally important one like the National Greening Program,” said Montejo in a statement.

As a strategy to fast track the issuance, Montejo has directed the provincial and community environment and natural resources officers in the four provinces to observe very strictly the required time frame in accepting, processing and releasing of the said documents.

He added that applications should be acted very promptly in accordance with the existing policies and should not be kept in a drawer, and applications with incomplete requirements should be returned immediately with appropriate notifications for the applicant to comply with.

Meanwhile, Montejo reiterated his call to the public to transact only with authorized personnel and to report immediately any abuses or illegal transactions committed by its personnel particularly on land titling fixing like soliciting a certain amount outside of the required or legal fees. —  (FREEMAN)