The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) announced recently that it sped up the titling of residential lands, acknowledging that untitled property resulted to delays in infrastructure projects as well as resolution of land and family disputes.
In a statement, the DENR said that it has issued Department Administrative Order No. 2025-35, in order to address policy gaps in the implementation of Republic Act No. 10023, also known as the Residential Free Patent Act.
Under this law, any Filipino considered as an actual occupant of a residential land may apply for a free patent title, depending on the size of the area and provided that it is not needed for public use or service.
The DENR, however, observed that a substantial number of families faced difficulties in applying for land titles as they were unable to provide proof of occupation or continuity of possession. The reasons: many of them were not currently living in the residential area that they are applying for a title, due to their work or marriage, or displacement due to natural disasters, etc.
The new memorandum addressed the issue. The AO clearly defined that an actual occupant of a residential area is no longer just the person currently living in the land but it is also “persons who, by reason of employment/ marriage are absent from the subject lot”. Also considered as an actual occupant are those “whose physical occupation of the subject lot is interrupted due to force majeure, fraud or employment of force or intimidation”.
The DENR said that millions of Filipinos “still live on land that has been passed down through generations but remains untitled due to rigid rules, unclear requirements, or simple lack of access to government services.”
“We are fixing a system that has left too many families in uncertainty for too long,” Environment Secretary Raphael M. Lotilla said. “A title is more than a document – it is stability, dignity, and protection from abuse. Our duty is to ensure that land governance is not only efficient but truly responsive to the realities ordinary Filipinos face.”
In the island province of Palawan, there was an instance that application of land titling was suspended for five to seven years.
The DENR imposed suspension of land titling in Palawan in 2015, due to alleged irregularities, involving the awarding of land titles to influential individuals in collusion with agency personnel. The DENR lifted the moratorium in March 2020 allowing for the resumption of accepting land title applications in specific areas only. Finally in 2022, the Land Management Bureau (LMB) of the DENR announced that the suspension of survey and titling activities in the entire Palawan is now lifted per Memorandum dated March 9, 2022 signed by the then Secretary Jim Sampulna.
The DENR said that the lack of land titles complicates reconstruction of damaged households during natural calamities. It also delayed the construction of proposed infrastructure projects, complicates family inheritance, and fueled land disputes.
