Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 11573)
The State's policy is to simplify, update, and harmonize provisions of land laws to remove ambiguity, and to provide land tenure security by continuing judicial and administrative titling processes.
Any natural-born Filipino citizen who does not own more than twelve (12) hectares of land and has continuously occupied and cultivated agricultural public lands for at least twenty (20) years, and who has paid real estate tax on the land.
Applications must be filed before the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO), or if no CENRO exists, then the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO).
The CENRO or PENRO must process the application within one hundred and twenty (120) days from filing, including compliance with notices and legal requirements.
The maximum area is twelve (12) hectares of alienable and disposable agricultural public land.
Citizens who have been in open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession and occupation of said land for at least twenty (20) years under a bona fide claim of ownership, those who acquired ownership by accession or accretion, and those who acquired ownership in other manners provided by law.
A certification signed by a duly designated DENR geodetic engineer, imprinted on the survey plan submitted in court, stating the land is within alienable and disposable agricultural lands, with reference to applicable orders or classification maps.
They face a fine of not less than One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000) but not more than Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000), or imprisonment of six (6) months to six (6) years, or both, at the court's discretion.
The parties may seek the proper administrative and judicial remedies to resolve such conflicts.
Persons who, by themselves or their predecessors-in-interest, have been in possession and occupation of alienable and disposable lands not covered by certificates of title for at least twenty (20) years, those who acquired ownership by accession or accretion, and those who acquired ownership by other legal means, provided land is not over twelve (12) hectares.