The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is gearing up for the full implementation of the land administration and management system (LAMS) starting next year in an effort to address land-related problems in the country.

At the same time, the DENR is also set to fast track the cadastral survey of the remaining areas in the country.

DENR Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje said that LAMS is an information system designed to help the Land Management Bureau and the regional land management services of DENR in the management of land data and information, and other land records.

“With the installation of LAMS in all regional offices of the Department, the people can expect not only a more efficient delivery of land services, but also enhanced integrity of our land titles,” Paje said.

A product under the second phase of the Land Administration and Management Project (LAMP2), LAMS involved not only the build-up of database but also the installation of required hardware infrastructures.

Specifically, the project requires the computerization of land records but also scanning and encoding of maps, survey plans and public land applications.

Citing the on-going land row involving Wilfredo Torres, homeowners of various subdivisions in Quezon City, and the Land Registration Authority (LRA), Paje expressed optimism that land conflicts arising from erroneous data, duplication of records, multiple sources of land information and like will be minimized.

“I can assure you that with LAMS, every land transaction will be very transparent. President Aquino expects us to ensure that all government transactions will be transparent,” Paje stressed.

According to him, not only information on land titles will be made available to the public but also cadastral maps and information to guide local government units and survey maps to land surveyors, including land applications,” he said. “With LAMS,” he said, “we hope to address such perennial problems related to land administration like fake and fraudulent land titles, overlapping of boundaries and graft and corruption.”

Alongside LAMS, Paje said that the DENR is also set to fast track the cadastral survey of the remaining unsurveyed and partially surveyed areas in the country next year.

The move, according to Paje, is in support of other government projects such as land disposition, land use planning, taxation and internal revenue allotment (IRA) program for local government units nationwide.

President Aquino has given the DENR a marching order to complete the nationwide cadastral survey before the end of his term in 2016.

DENR records indicate that as of April 2011, of the targeted 1,516 municipalities and cities (excluding areas belonging to the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao) a total of 878 cities and municipalities have been completely surveyed cadastrally, 370 have on-going cadastral survey activities, 228 are partially surveyed and 40 other municipalities remain unsurveyed.

Paje explained that the exclusion of ARMM areas is due to inability of DENR personnel to conduct cadastral survey due to peace and order problem.

Cadastral survey refers to the survey made to determine the metes and bounds of all parcels within an entire municipality or city for land registration and other purposes.

The conduct of cadastral survey comprises of the following phases of work: survey control establishment to determine the horizontal and vertical positions of points; political boundary survey to determine the metes and bounds of the entire municipality or city and the extent of barangays for comprehensive land use planning and computation of the IRA; and lot survey to determine the metes and boundsof every parcel of land in the city or municipality for titling purposes.