PHILIPPINES’ CENTURY-OLD CADASTRAL SURVEY SAGA ENDS

Taking pride of a 100% accomplishment, Land Management Bureau (LMB) Acting Director Emelyne V. Talabis said that the cadastral survey of the 1,634 cities and municipalities in the Philippines spearheaded by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is finally completed.

As mentioned in the sixth and last State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Benigno ‘Pnoy’ Aquino III last July 27, 2015, he stated, “The Cadastral Survey, which was started in 1913, has been completed by us. It took almost a century for those who came before us to complete 46 percent of this survey. The more than half left to be done, we finished in just five years in government.”

“It is indeed a great honor to be mentioned in the SONA of President Aquino because the LMB has been instrumental in the completion of the cadastral survey program which he committed before he steps down from office,” Atty. Talabis said.

“Completing the cadastral survey program is a part of the President’s social contract with the Filipino people and we could consider this as one of his important legacies during his administration,” she added.

“Likewise, we consider this as one of the biggest and important accomplishments of the Bureau, because after more than a century, we can finally move on to the next step in bettering the services in land administration and management in the country,” Talabis stated.

Of the 1,634 cities and municipalities in the Philippines, the DENR through te Land Management Service surveyed 1,516 and the remaining 118 were completely surveyed on the ground by the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The ARMM is the lone region in the Philippines having its independent government and has direct supervision on the cadastral survey of the 118 cities/municipalities under the stewardship of Governor Mujiv Hataman which, the survey returns, according to him are now undergoing inspection and verification.

The cadastral survey, a fundamental element of land administration in the country is done to delineate the administrative boundary of a city or a municipality and its component barangays for Internal Revenue purposes. It also includes the survey of individual lot boundaries of alienable and disposable lands of the public domain for purposes of land titling.

According to Talabis, “cadastral survey facilitates the efficient processing of land transactions and distribution of land titles which hastens economic growth and countryside development.”

“Cadastral surveys also make it possible to plan speedy restoration work in the aftermath of disasters particularly with the identification of areas for relocation of displaced families,” she added.

It also contributes to the protection of land-based assets once personal rights and interest over land are clarified. In the same manner, because cadastral information captures precise configuration and area measurements, “Agencies like LMB, Land Management Services, NAMRIA are able to prepare basic maps for GIS purposes, thus utilizing cadastral surveys as base information for drafting plans involving land, and for various other services to the general public, Talabis explained.

The century-old cadastral survey program in the Philippines started way back in 1913 through the enactment of Act 2259 otherwise known as Cadastral Act 2259.

In a matter of five years since the Aquino administration took over in 2010, 881 cities and municipalities were surveyed comparing to 753 cities and municipalities surveyed in 96 years between 1913 and 2009.

A total budget of PhP 5,701,250,964 billion – the biggest budget allocation in cadastral survey in the span of 100 years was allocated by President Aquino for a period of five years (2010 to 2015) to finish the cadastral survey program in the Philippines.

Talabis said that the implementation of the cadastral survey program would not have been realized if not for President Aquino’s commitment to reform the country’s land administration and management. (lmm)