This document discusses Philippine public lands and how they can be acquired. It defines public lands as lands not owned by private individuals or corporations. Public lands can be classified as alienable/disposable (A&D) lands that can be acquired through titles, or non-alienable lands like forests that cannot be titled. A&D lands can be acquired through homestead patents for agriculture, sales patents for residential/commercial/industrial use, leases, or free patents. It establishes the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as responsible for conservation and management of public lands and natural resources. The DENR formulates rules regarding natural resource use and can investigate fraudulent acquisition of public lands to allow reversion
This document discusses Philippine public lands and how they can be acquired. It defines public lands as lands not owned by private individuals or corporations. Public lands can be classified as alienable/disposable (A&D) lands that can be acquired through titles, or non-alienable lands like forests that cannot be titled. A&D lands can be acquired through homestead patents for agriculture, sales patents for residential/commercial/industrial use, leases, or free patents. It establishes the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as responsible for conservation and management of public lands and natural resources. The DENR formulates rules regarding natural resource use and can investigate fraudulent acquisition of public lands to allow reversion
This document discusses Philippine public lands and how they can be acquired. It defines public lands as lands not owned by private individuals or corporations. Public lands can be classified as alienable/disposable (A&D) lands that can be acquired through titles, or non-alienable lands like forests that cannot be titled. A&D lands can be acquired through homestead patents for agriculture, sales patents for residential/commercial/industrial use, leases, or free patents. It establishes the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as responsible for conservation and management of public lands and natural resources. The DENR formulates rules regarding natural resource use and can investigate fraudulent acquisition of public lands to allow reversion
What are Public Lands? All Lands that are not acquired by private person or corporation, either by grant or purchase are public lands. The common understanding therefore, is that all lands which have no title or not registered to private individual are public land these are grouped into: Alienable or disposable (A & D Lands) - those that can be acquired or issued title. Our constitution provides that only agricultural lands can be disposed of to private citizens. What are the modes of disposition or How can one acquire title over A&D lands?
The modes are: By Homestead Patent- is a mode of acquiring alienable and disposable lands of the public domain for agricultural purposes conditioned upon actual cultivation and residence. By Sales Patent- LANDS FOR RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL, OR INDUSTRIAL PURPOSE By Lease By Free Patent or Administrative legalization Non-alienable lands - includes timber or forest lands, mineral lands, national parks. No title can be issued over any portion within this area. Sec. 2. The provisions of this Act shall apply to the lands of the publicdomain; but timber and mineral lands shall be governed by special laws andnothing in this Act provided shall be understood or construed to change ormodify the administration and disposition of the lands commonly called "friarlands" and those which, being privately owned, have reverted to or becomethe property of the Republic of the Philippines, which administration anddisposition shall be governed by the laws at present in force or which mayhereafter be enacted Sec. 4. Subject to said control, the Director of Lands shall have directexecutive control of the survey, classification, lease, sale or any other form ofconcession or disposition and management of the lands of the public domain,and his decisions as to questions of fact shall be conclusive when approvedby the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Sec. 7. For the purposes of the administration and disposition ofalienable or disposable public lands, the President, upon recommendation bythe Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, shall from time to timedeclare what lands are open to disposition or concession under this Act. Sec.8 However, the President may,for reasons of public interest, declare lands of the public domain open todisposition before the same have had their boundaries established or beensurveyed, or may, for the same reason, suspend their concession ordisposition until they are again declared open to concession or disposition byproclamation duly published or by Act of the Congress Sec. 9. For the purpose of their administration and disposition, thelands of the public domain alienable or open to disposition shall be classified, according to the use or purposes to which such lands are destined, as follows:(a) Agricultural;(b) Residential, commercial, industrial, or for similar productivepurposes;(c) Educational, charitable, or other similar purposes; and(d) Reservations for town sites and for public and quasi-public uses.The President, upon recommendation by the Secretary of Agricultureand Natural Resources, shall from time to timemake the classificationsprovided for in this section, and may, at any time and in a similar manner,transfer lands from one class to another. Sec. 10. The words "alienation," "disposition," or "concession," as used in this Act, shall mean any of the methods authorized by this Act for the acquisition, lease, use or benefit of the lands of the public domain other than timber or mineral lands. Sec. 96. As soon as any land of the public domain has been surveyed,delimited, and classified, the President may, in the order issued by himdeclaring it open for disposition, designate a term within which occupants withimprovements but not entitled to free patents may apply for the land occupiedby them, if they have the qualifications required by this Act. 11. Indefeasibility of Title under the Torens System The Government has adopted the Torrens system due to its being the most effective measure to guarantee the integrity of land titles and to protect their indefeasibility once the claim of ownership is established and recognized. If a person purchases a piece of land on the assurance that the sellers title thereto is valid, he should not run the risk of being told later that his acquisition was ineffectual after all, which will not only be unfair to him as the purchaser, but will also erode public confidence in the system and will force land transactions to be attended by complicated and not necessarily conclusive investigations and proof of ownership. The further consequence will be that land conflicts can be even more abrasive, if not even violent. The Government, recognizing the worthy purposes of the Torrens system, should be the first to accept the validity of titles issued thereunder once the conditions laid down by the law are satisfied.[13] Yet, registration under the Torrens system, not being a mode of acquiring ownership, does not create or vest title.[14] The Torrens certificate of title is merely an evidence of ownership or title in the particular property described therein.[15] In that sense, the issuance of the certificate of title to a particular person does not preclude the possibility that persons not named in the certificate may be co-owners of the real property therein described with the person named therein, or that the registered owner may be holding the property in trust for another person.[16] Nonetheless, it is essential that title registered under the Torrens system becomes indefeasible and incontrovertible 12. Reversion of Land acquired thru Fraud Sec. 133. Any person who, without having qualifications required bythis Act, shall by deceit or fraud acquire or attempt to acquire lands of thepublic domain or other real property or any right, title or interest, or propertyright of any class to the same, and any person aiding and abetting him thereinor serving as a means or tool therefor, shall, upon conviction, be punished bya fine of not more than five thousand pesos, or by the imprisonment for notmore than five years, or both, in the discretion of the court.
Section 122 of the Land Registration Act, a Torrens title issued on the basis of a free patent or a homestead patent is as indefeasible as one judicially secured. And in repeated previous decisions of this Court that indefeasibility has been emphasized by Our holding that not even the Government can file an action for annulment, but at the same time, it has been made clear that an action for reversion may be instituted by the Solicitor General, in the name of the Republic of the Philippines. It is to the public interest that one who succeeds in fraudulently acquiring title to a public land should not be allowed to benefit therefrom, and the State should, therefore, have an even existing authority, thru its duly authorized officers, to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the issuance of any such title, to the end that the Republic, thru the Solicitor General or any other officer who may be authorized by law, may file the corresponding action for the reversion of the land involved to the public domain, subject thereafter to disposal to other qualified persons in accordance with law. In other words, the indefeasibility of a title over land previously public is not a bar to an investigation by the Director of Lands as to how such title has been acquired, if the purpose of such investigation is to determine whether or not fraud had been committed in securing such title in order that the appropriate action for reversion may be filed by the Government. Commonwealth 141: Section 101. All actions for the reversion to the government of lands of the public domain or improvements thereon shall be instituted by the Solicitor General or the officer acting in his stead, in the proper courts, in the name of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. 13. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) DENR is mandated to be the primary government agency responsible for the conservation, management, development and proper use of the country's environment and natural resources, including those in reservations, watershed areas and lands of the public domain, as well as the licensing and regulation of all natural resources utilization as may be provided by law in order to ensure equitable sharing of the benefits derived therefrom for the welfare of the present and future generations of Filipinos. The DENR's three main functions and responsibilities are the following: Formulation and Implementation of rules and policies that involve the management of the environment, and the prevention and control of pollution Supervision of policies and programs that concerns the conservation, use, and replenishment of the country's natural resource Establishment of rules concerning the Philippine forests, lands, mineral source, and wildlife Function: Advise the President on the enactment of laws relative to the development, use, regulation and conservation of the country's natural resources and the control of pollution; Formulate, implement and supervise the government's policies, plans and programs pertaining to the management, conservation, development, use and replenishment of the country's natural resources. Promulgate rules and regulations in accordance with law governing the exploration, development, conservation, extraction, disposition, use and such other commercial activities tending to cause the depletion and degradation of our natural resources; Exercise supervision and control over forest lands, alienable and disposable lands, and mineral resources and impose appropriate payments, fees, charges, rentals and any such form of levy and collect such revenues for the exploration, development, utilization or gathering of such resources; Undertake exploration, assessment, classification and inventory of the country's natural resources using ground surveys, remote sensing and complementary technologies; Promote proper and mutual consultation with the private sector involving natural resources development, use and conservation; Undertake geological surveys of the whole country including its territorial waters; Establish policies and implement programs Functions of the Secretary Functions of the Director of the Lands Management Bureau (LMB) Land Management Bureau LMB with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Field Offices is mandated by DENR to administer, survey, manage, and dispose Alienable and Disposable (A&D) lands and other government lands not placed under the jurisdiction of other government agencies. LMB is also in charged with the management and administration of the country's natural resources including the protection of the people's rights over their lands. Functions of the PENRO Functions of the CENRO