Baguio council: New land law a bane to city

By Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY – The city council last Monday urged the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources to put on hold implementation of Republic Act No. 10023 a newly approved law that authorizes issuance of free patents to residential lands, in the city due to provisions in the new law that conflict with the city’s status as a townsite reservation.

The body, in a letter to DENR Cordillera executive director Clarence Baguilat, and in a resolution, asked that the DENR “hold in abeyance and/or refrain from implementing” the law until such time that special guidelines more applicable and appropriate to the Baguio setting have been adopted.

DENR Cordillera executives led by Baguilat attended the city council session Monday upon invitation of the body to shed light on the new law and its implications to the city.

During the discussions, Baguilat and DENR Regional Technical Director for Lands Victor Carantes agreed with the city council members’ observations that the new law runs counter to the city’s present procedure of disposing alienable and disposable lots and thus is inapplicable to the city’s setting.

Council committee on lands chair Councilor Isabelo Cosalan Jr. along with Councilors Betty Lourdes Tabanda and Erdolfo Balajadia questioned some provisions of the free patents law which they said tend to abet squatting and land monopoly.

Tabanda also brought out the possible conflict that may rise once the proposed amendment of the city charter has been approved.

The amendment includes changes in the procedures and guidelines for the disposition of alienable and disposable public lands with the Baguio Townsite reservation.

Baguilat and Carantes said they shared the same apprehensions and affirmed that the new law will have the “greatest impact” on Baguio being the only one with townsite reservation status.

“Being the only established town reservation, the mode of land titling in the city is unique and the free patents law threatens to remove that uniqueness,” Carantes said.

However, they assured that all is not lost as they have been informed by the DENR central office of the plan to craft special guidelines for areas with unique status like Baguio.

The also promised to involve the city in the drafting of said guidelines to ensure that all concerns will be addressed.

The body tasked Cosalan to represent the city on said concern.

“If we can’t amend the law through legislation, then we can do it through an administrative order,” Baguilat assured.

The DENR executives also assured that no application for free patent has so far been accepted and processed in the city under the said law.

Republic Act No. 10023 entitled “An Act Authorizing the Issuance of Free Patents to Residential Lands” was signed into law by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on March 9 this year.

The DENR considers said new law as a “landmark measure as it streamlined the requirements and procedures of land titling involving zoned residential lands.”

The DENR Administrative Order No. 2010-12 promulgating the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for the issuance of free patents under the act was also approved last May 5 by DENR Secretary Horacio Ramos who announced that occupants of untitled residential public land can file their applications for free patents at the nearest DENR field offices 15 days from May 16, or beginning June 1.

The city council sought clarification from DENR-CAR officials on the impact of the new law relative to Townsite Sales Applications, Miscellaneous Sales Application, Insular Government Property Sales Applications, Ancestral Land Claim Applications to come up with a unified system in acquiring patents over alienable and disposable lands in the City of Baguio including that of the Charter of the City of Baguio.