Amendments to Agricultural Free Patents
- Section 2 amends Section 44 of Commonwealth Act No. 141 to allow any natural-born citizen who is not the owner of more than twelve (12) hectares of land to apply for an agricultural free patent, provided the applicant has continuously occupied and cultivated alienable and disposable agricultural public lands for at least twenty (20) years immediately prior to filing.
- Section 2 requires that the applicant has paid the real estate tax on the land in order to qualify under Chapter provisions on agricultural free patents.
- Section 3 amends Section 45 of Commonwealth Act No. 141 and requires agricultural free patent applications to be filed with the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) in provinces, and with the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) for provinces with no CENRO.
- Section 3 mandates the CENRO or PENRO, as the case may be, to process the application within one hundred and twenty (120) days from filing, including compliance with required notices and other legal requirements.
- Section 3 provides the forwarding rule after CENRO processing: the CENRO forwards the recommendation to the PENRO if the land area is below five (5) hectares, to the DENR Regional Director if the area is at least five (5) up to ten (10) hectares, and to the Secretary of the DENR if the area is more than ten (10) up to twelve (12) hectares.
- Section 3 requires the PENRO, DENR Regional Director, or the Secretary of the DENR, as the case may be, to approve or disapprove the application within five (5) days from receipt of the recommendation or completion of processing within the reglementary period; if approved, the agricultural free patent is issued forthwith.
- Section 3 allows parties with conflicting claims among different claimants to seek proper administrative and judicial remedies.
Repeal and update of Confirmation Petitions
- Section 4 repeals Section 47 of Commonwealth Act No. 141 (as amended by Republic Act No. 7196) in its entirety.
- Section 5 amends Section 48 of Commonwealth Act No. 141 to permit certain citizens to file a petition at any time for judicial confirmation of claims and issuance of a certificate of title for land not exceeding twelve (12) hectares in the Regional Trial Court of the province where the land is located.
- Section 5 allows confirmation petitions for:
- (a) those in open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession and occupation of alienable and disposable agricultural lands under a bona fide claim of ownership for at least twenty (20) years immediately preceding filing, except when prevented by war or force majeure; and it provides that they are conclusively presumed to have performed essential conditions for a Government grant and are entitled to a certificate of title.
- (b) those who acquired ownership of private lands or abandoned riverbeds by right of accession or accretion under existing laws.
- (c) those who acquired ownership of land in any other manner provided by law.
- Section 5 allows filing personally or through duly authorized representatives.
Amendments to Original Registration (P.D. 1529)
- Section 6 amends Section 14 of Presidential Decree No. 1529 and limits applications for original registration of title to land not exceeding twelve (12) hectares filed at any time in the proper Regional Trial Court in the province where the land is located.
- Section 6(1) covers applicants who, by themselves or predecessors-in-interest, have been in open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession and occupation of alienable and disposable public-domain lands not covered by existing certificates of title or patents under a bona fide claim of ownership for at least twenty (20) years, except when prevented by war or force majeure; it provides a conclusive presumption that they performed essential conditions for a Government grant and are entitled to a certificate of title.
- Section 6(2) covers those who acquired ownership of private lands or abandoned riverbeds by right of accession or accretion under existing laws.
- Section 6(3) covers those who acquired ownership of land in any other manner provided by law.
- Section 6 requires joint filing when the land is owned in common: all co-owners shall file the application jointly.
- Section 6 addresses pacto de retro situations by allowing the vendor a retro to file an application for original registration; if the redemption period expires during pendency of registration proceedings and ownership consolidates in the vendee a retro, the vendee shall be substituted as the applicant and may continue the proceedings.
- Section 6 allows a trustee to apply on behalf of the principal for land held in trust, unless prohibited by the instrument creating the trust.
Proof of alienable and disposable classification
- Section 7 establishes that for judicial confirmation of imperfect titles filed under Presidential Decree No. 1529, a duly signed certification by a duly designated DENR geodetic engineer that the land is part of alienable and disposable agricultural lands of the public domain is sufficient proof that the land is alienable.
- Section 7 requires the certification to be imprinted in the approved survey plan submitted by the applicant in the land registration court.
- Section 7 requires the imprinted certification to contain a sworn statement by the geodetic engineer that the land is within alienable and disposable lands of the public domain and to state the applicable Forestry Administrative Order, DENR Administrative Order, Executive Order, Proclamations, and the Land Classification Project Map Number covering the subject land.
- Section 7 sets an alternative when there is no available copy of the Forestry Administrative Order, Executive Order, or Proclamation: it is sufficient that the Land Classification (LC) Map Number, Project Number, and date of release shown in the land classification map be stated in the sworn statement declaring that the land classification map exists in the inventory of LC Map records of NAMRIA and is being used by the DENR as land classification map.
Penalties for false/fraudulent mapping
- Section 8 imposes penalties in addition to those under the Revised Penal Code and Republic Act No. 8560 (as amended), otherwise known as the Philippine Geodetic Engineering Act of 1998.
- Section 8 penalizes a geodetic engineer who prepares, willingly or through gross inexcusable negligence, a projection map containing false, fraudulent, or incomplete data or information.
- Section 8 penalizes the DENR official who certifies and approves such projection map.
- Section 8 provides the penalty range as a fine of not less than PHP 100,000.00 but not more than PHP 500,000.00, or imprisonment of not less than six (6) months but not exceeding six (6) years, or both, at the discretion of the court.
Removal of restrictions and RA 11231 applicability
- Section 9 makes the provisions of Republic Act No. 11231 applicable to Free Patents issued under this Act.
Implementation, separability, and effectivity
- Section 10 directs the Secretary of the DENR to promulgate the implementing rules and regulations within sixty (60) days from the effectivity of this Act.
- Section 11 provides a separability clause: invalid or unconstitutional provisions do not affect the remaining provisions.
- Section 12 contains a repealing clause: laws, decrees, executive orders, executive issuances, letters of instructions, rules and regulations, or parts inconsistent with this Act are repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.
- Effectivity: the Act takes effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.
Issuance details and legislative passage
- Republic Act No. 11573 is entitled “AN ACT IMPROVING THE CONFIRMATION PROCESS FOR IMPERFECT LAND TITLES, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE COMMONWEALTH ACT NO. 141, AS AMENDED, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS ‘THE PUBLIC LAND ACT,’ AND PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1529, AS AMENDED, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS ‘THE PROPERTY REGISTRATION DECREE’.”
- Republic Act No. 11573 is approved July 16, 2021.
- Republic Act No. 11573 is published in OG No. 33, 8357 (August 16, 2021).
- Republic Act No. 11573 consolidated House Bill No. 7440 and Senate Bill No. 1931, passed by the House of Representatives on May 19, 2021 and by the Senate on May 18, 2021.