The Land Management Bureau (LMB), a staff bureau under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the DENR-National Capital Region (NCR) awarded land ownership to 88 Metro Manila residents through its Handog Titulo Program. DENR Secretary Antonia Loyzaga led the awarding of land ownership to the beneficiaries during the 122nd Founding Anniversary celebration of the LMB on September 29.
The Handog Titulo program is designed to expedite the processing of public land patent applications and their issuance to eligible applicants nationwide. The program aims to increase the distribution of land titles to combat poverty and stimulate growth and development. In compliance with DENR Memorandum Circular No. 2019-04, the DENR celebrates Handog Titulo Month every September, granting land titles to beneficiaries nationwide.
LMB issued 58 Deeds of Sale to beneficiaries from barangays Central Signal Village, North Signal Village, South Signal Village, Upper Bicutan, Central Bicutan, Lower Bicutan, New Lower Bicutan, and Western Bicutan in Taguig City. This was in accordance with Proclamation No. 172, series of 1987, which mandates the distribution of residential lots to qualified residents through sale in specific Taguig City barangays.
The DENR-NCR also recognized 25 recipients of Residential Free Patents covering lands in Ibayo-Tipas, Taguig City; Caniogan, Pasig City, Pembo, Makati; North Bay Boulevard North (NBBN), Navotas City; Sta. Ana in the municipality of Pateros; and five beneficiaries of Insular Government Property Sales (IGPS) in Escopa I, Quezon City.
Apart from the National Capital Region, the DENR—through the LMB and the Department’s regional offices awarded 1,578 beneficiaries of the Handog Titulo Program this September in other parts of the country. Recipients are from the Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos, Mimaropa, Bicol, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao, and the Caraga Regions.
The Residential Free Patent Act, or Republic Act 10023, empowers the administrative issuance of free patents for residential lands to eligible Filipinos without land titles. IGPS, on the other hand, involves the allocation of lands in the government’s name for residential or agricultural purposes.
In her keynote address, Secretary Loyzaga emphasized the intrinsic value of land and its pivotal role in enhancing the lives of Filipinos, thereby reaffirming DENR’s proactive commitment to safeguard, restore, and sustainably manage the country’s land resources for both current and future generations.
“It is my honor to hand out these titles to the awardees over lots disposed under Proclamation No. 172 located in several barangays in Taguig City as well as other cities in NCR. This significant endeavor is a vital part of our journey toward a more equitable and sustainable future,” Loyzaga said.
Loyzaga pledged that the DENR would persist in working to protect the welfare of Filipinos through effective land management, aiming to strike a delicate balance among competing interests in land use, ensuring economic viability, social equity, and environmental sustainability in decision-making.
“For us at the DENR, that means the management of our land actually impact the management of our air, the atmosphere, as well as our oceans. We cannot separate these three domains,” she pointed out.
LMB Director Emelyne Talabis, for her part, affirmed the DENR’s commitment to modernizing and digitalizing land services, completing the digital cadastral database, formulating policies to enhance efficiency, capturing data of all land records, updating the Manual on Land Survey Regulations, and studying amendments to Commonwealth Act No. 141, also known as the Public Land Act. ###
