Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
LAND MANAGEMENT
IN THE PHILIPPINES
Asteya Santiago
August 1994
The UMP Asia Occasional Papers are published periodically by the Urban Management
Programme Regional Office for Asia Pacific (UMP Asia) with funding support from UNDP
through the Urban Management Programme for Asia Pacific (UMPAP).
The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in these papers are entirely those of
the author(s) and should not be attributed in any manner to UMP Asia and to its affiliated
organizations. UMP Asia does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in these
publications and accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any consequence of their use. UMP
Asia encourages dissemination of its work and will give permission to reproduce portions of
the Occasional Papers when the reproduction is for non commercial purposes and proper
acknowledgement of the author(s) and UMP Asia is made.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Prof. Asteya Santiago received her Bachelor
and a Masters in Town & Country Planning
finalizing her PhD major in Urban & Regional
Prof. Santiago is presently a Professor at
University of the Philippines.
Prof. Asteya Santiago submitted this paper originally to the UMP regional workshop in
October 1992 to launch the UMP regional programme for Asia and the Pacific and to organize
the UMP-Asia Regional Panel of Experts. Since then, she has been an active member of the
Panel.
BACKGROUND :
CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL
FRAMEWORK
The
authority
for
land
management activities in the Philippines
rests on explicit Constitutional and Legal
provisions. Policy objectives dealing with
the classification, acquisition, disposition
and development of the countrys land
resources are firmly recorded in an almost
exhaustive list of legislation which had
evolved in the past four decades or so.
These are, furthermore, complemented by
legal issuances emanating from the
executive branch of the government.
The countrys approach to and
strategies in land management are
anchored not only on the traditional
property rights of individuals which are
covered by the constitutional mantle of
protection, but on the social justice
precept enshrined in the highest law of
the land. To promote social justice, land
as property is placed under State
regulation, affecting its various aspects
such as acquisition, ownership, use, and
disposition (Article XIII, Section I on Social
Justice and Human Rights).
While Urban Land Reform, both as
a constitutional mandate and as a distinct
legislative concern, are regarded as
relatively of recent vintage, they should, in
fact, be properly regarded as milestone
outputs of incremental efforts that have
been unleashed several decades ago.
Land Tenure
conditions)
and
usufruct,
where
possession or occupation is with or
without rental, respectively.
2.
Land Sub-Division
b)
Highly
urbanized
and
noncomponent
cities
shall
adopt
a
comprehensive land use plan for the city
and enact an integrated zoning ordinance
in consonance thereto. It is assumed that
this need not have reference to a
provincial land use plan since these local
government
units
are
considered
independent of the province where they
are located.
Since the exercise of these powers is
required to be in accordance with existing
laws and rules and regulations, land use
allocation activities are assumed to be
subject to the standard setting, review of,
and conflict resolution powers of the
Housing and Land use Regulatory Board
(HLURB).
Sect.20)
Land Acquisition
19).
b)
c)
Land Swapping.
This refers to the
acquisition by exchanging land for another
piece of land of equal value, or for shares
of stock in a government or quasigovernment corporation whose book value
is of equal value to the land being
exchanged, for the purpose of planned
and rational development and the
provision for socialized housing. In land
swapping, land values are determined
based on land classification, market value
and assessed value taken from existing tax
declarations. More valuable land owned
Land Disposition
Depending on the nature and occupancy
status of the land, the various modes of
land disposal used by the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources are as
follows:
a)
Sales Patent. This involves the
sale of lands to individuals, subject to
conditions,
aimed
at
minimizing
speculation and encouraging development.
Done through public auction, the land is
awarded to the highest bidder subject to
the condition that the awardee shall enter,
break and cultivate at least 1/5 of the land
within 5 years from the date of the award.
b)
Homestead Patent. Introduced
by the American colonizers to expedite
settlement of the undeveloped areas in
the country, it involves gratuitously
conveying to individuals, parcels of land
subject to conditions requiring residence in
and cultivation of the land within a certain
timeframe to ensure its development.
Upon the satisfaction of the conditions,
the patent or conveyance eventually
matures into a full title.
c)
Free Patent. An administrative
process under the Public Land Act by
which titles are perfected through the
awarding of a free patent.
This is
intended to benefit those who could not
establish sufficient legal basis for title, but
had occupied the land for the length of
time prescribed by law. This process is
available only to native born Filipinos.
d)
Voluntary Confirmation. This
provides an opportunity for those who
have claims to title to present their case
voluntarily before the courts which do not
award the title but, as the name suggests,
merely confirms it on the basis of the
evidence presented.
e)
Compulsory
Confirmation.
Due to the unsuccessful orderly conversion
of lands with uncertain status (for various
reasons such as ignorance of the law,
costs, etc.) the Cadastral Act was passed
in 1913 where the government declared
specific cities or municipalities to be
subject to comprehensive cadastral
survey. All lands in the local government
unit were included in the survey and their1.
claimants identified, in the process.
5.
Land
Regulation
Development
and
its
Conservation of Lands
INSTITUTIONAL
ARRANGEMENTS
Role of the Government
Much of the land management activities in
the Philippines are undertaken by national
departments and line agencies whose
functions are, in some cases, overlapping
and duplicative with each other. Local
governments have only recently been
drawn into the activity but their state of
preparedness and competence to assume
the task remains in question.
Actual Performance
The performance of line agencies leaves
much room for improvement although no
studies have yet been undertaken to pinpoint with certainty the areas of
weaknesses. Cursory studies and limited
information reveal, however, the need for
consolidating certain land classification,
disposition
and
land
development
functions in one centralized agency or, at
least the more effective synchronization of
these functions.
Local governments, on the other hand,
have very nominal participation in land
management activities except in the
formulation and implementation of land
use plans and the enforcement of zoning
ordinances. The new Local Government
Code provides for improvement of this
situation.
Shift of Approach
The traditional approach of most land
agencies of focusing only on their land
References
Chowdhury, A.I. 1984. Land for Human
Settlements in Bangladesh.
ESCAP/UNIDO, Bangkok.
Government of Bangladesh, 1983, Report
of the Land Reform Committee, 1982.
Dhaka.
Haque, M. Mokammel, 1992.
An
Overview of Urban Land Management in
Bangladesh, in N. Islam and A.I.
Chowdhury (editors), 1992.
Islam, Nazrul. 1992. Dhaka Metropolitan
Fringe Land and Housing Development.
Dhaka: Dhaka City Museum.
Islam, N. and A.I. Chowdhury, 1992.
Urban Land Management in Bangladesh.
Dhaka: Ministry of Land, Government of
Bangladesh (see Recommendations and
other papers in this volume).
Task Force of Urbanization, Planning
Commission, Government of Bangladesh
1991. Report of the Task Force on Social
Implications of Urbanization.