LMB Launches the Revision of Manual on Land Survey Regulations and Procedures

The Land Management Bureau (LMB) engages the expertise and services of the University of the Philippines Department of Geodetic Engineering (UPDGE) for the review and updating of the DENR Administrative Order No. 98-12, “Revised Manual of Land Surveying Regulations in the Philippines”, DENR Administrative Order No. 2007-29, “The Revised Regulations on Land Surveys” and the DENR Memorandum Circular No. 2010-13, “Adoption of the Manual on Land Survey Procedures”, which was initially launched recently in a Four (4) Day Technical Workshop in Coron, Palawan.

The technical workshop was spearheaded by the Assistant Director of LMB Engr. Romeo P. Verzosa, along with the Chief of Geodetic Surveys Division (GSD) Engr. Bienvenido F. Cruz and attended by the different stakeholders from the Geodetic Engineers of the Philippines, Inc. (GEPI) headed by National President Engr. Victorino O. Domingo, National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA), represented by Engr. Hennesy R. Marohom, Land Registration Authority (LRA) represented by Engr. Ante Gamiao, Professional Regulatory Board of Geodetic Engineering (PRBGE) Chairman Hon. Epifanio D. Lopez, Land Management Services (LMS) of the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, and Energy (MENRE) – BARMM by Director Eshan Karl Mabang and all the DENR-Regional  Chief, Surveys and Mapping Division (CSMD), and the University of the Philippines-Department of Geodetic Engineering, headed by Engr. Maria Rosario Concepcion Ang.

Forester Edwin I. Cac, Officer-In-Charge (OIC) Assistant Community Environment and Natural Resources (CENR) Officer of Coron welcomed the delegates.

Engr. Verzosa stressed that it is very timely to amend and revise the existing policies of the Manual on Land Surveying, and this technical workshop is just the beginning. He explained that the DAO 2007-29 and DMC 2010-13 were issued separately as regulation and procedure. With the assistance and active participation of the Geodetic Engineers, it will help us understand what is to be done. According to him, during their time in the revision of the previous policies, the Technical Working Group (TWG) who worked on it were composed of “bright minds’ or technical experts.

According to Prof. Lopez, the manual regulations are used by the Board (PRBGE) as reference to resolve cases involving some Geodetic Engineers, who committed lapses in the practice but not in accordance with the regulations. He added that, in the past 15 years, a quantum leap was made in the development of surveying and mapping technologies from unmanned aerial systems to lidar, laser scanners and as well as instruments and procedures to make our work easier, faster, secure and more accurate. This gave way to the reason why existing regulations and procedures became obsolete and needed to be updated, to make sure that the procedures would conform to intercepted modern techniques. With the technical workshop, he expects to strike a happy and reasonable balance in the theory and practice of these regulations.

Engr. Ma. Rosario Concepcion O. Ang, Assistant Professor of UPDGE, described the project as under the Land Sector Modernization Program 3: Revision and Updating of the Land Survey Regulations and Manual of Procedures, and said, “this collaboration is to come up with a survey regulation and manual that will cope with the recent developments in surveying and mapping technologies with consideration on the effective and efficient public service.”

The stakeholder consultations/technical workshop was conducted as one of the methodologies of UPDGE to comprehend the present land survey regulations, land survey procedures, and other existing policies.

The output of each group as well as all the comments and ideas that were brought out during the plenary will be consolidated by the Consultant and will be used for their desktop review and draft revised manual. A Technical Working Group (TWG) will also be created for the revision of the manual.