The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) through their Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) in Taytay, Palawan has announced that they are accepting applications for Residential Free Patent and Agricultural Free Patent.
CENRO-Taytay said that among the requirements for the application include tax declaration, Waiver of Rights/Extra Judicial Settlement of Estate, Special Power of Attorney (if applicable), Approve plan (if applicable), Community Tax Certificate or cedula, Photocopy of valid ID, Barangay Certification, certifying that the applicant is the actual occupant, certifications from the municipal planning office, Regional Trial Court, Land Registration Authority (LRA), etc.
“Ang aplikasyon po ay para sa Bayan ng Taytay lamang. Ang Bayan ng El Nido ay suspended pa rin ang issuance ng survey authority base sa memorandum ng Undersecretary for Field Operations na inilabas noon pang Mayo 28, 2015,” CENRO Taytay said.
As provided by Republic Act No. 10023, otherwise known as the Residential Free Patent Act, that any Filipino citizen who is an actual occupant of a residential land may apply for a Free Patent Title and should not exceed 1,000 square meters, provided that the land applied for is not needed for public service and public use.
The issuance of residential free patents is now part of the land disposition program of the government by virtue of RA 10023. It is being implemented not only in Palawan, but all across the country in consonance with the thrust of the government to provide equal rights to millions of Filipinos to own unregistered lands, which they have occupied for at least ten years.
RA 10023 said that the application on the land applied for shall be supported by a map based on an actual survey conducted by a licensed geodetic engineer and approved by the DENR and a technical description of the land applied for together with supporting affidavit of two disinterested persons who are residing in the barangay of the city or municipality where the land is located, attesting to the truth of the facts contained in the application to the effect that the applicant thereof has, either by himself or through his predecessor-in-interest, actually resided on and continuously possessed and occupied, under a bona fide claim of acquisition of ownership, the land applied for at least 10 years.
Agricultural patents on the other hand, are land grants to farmers given title under the Public Land Act. To be entitled to a free patent, a farmer must be, a Filipino citizen, possessing/cultivating the land for 30 years, and paying taxes for 30 years.
An agricultural free patent comes from public lands
The campaign is pursuant to the guidelines on the issuance of free patents stipulated under RA 10023, Commonwealth Act No. 141 or the “Public Land Act” (1936), Republic Act No. 782 or the “An Act to Grant Free Patents to Occupants of Public Agricultural Land since or prior to July 4, 1946, and Republic Act No. 11231 or the “Agricultural Free Patent Reform Act” (2018), which simplify the titling process.