The Unsurveyed Land in the Philippines

Philippines—there is hope that tension-filled land disputes would be more easily resolved soon, with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources preparing for the full implementation of its new land administration and management system.

Along with this, the DENR is also fast-tracking the completion of the cadastral survey of the remaining unsurveyed land in the country. A cadastral survey involves the recording of property boundaries, subdivision lines and buildings. It is intended to determine the bounds of a city or municipality and the extent of barangays for comprehensive land use planning and the computation of the internal revenue allotment, and to determine the bounds of parcels of land for titling purposes. Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said the new land administration and management system (LAMS) would go a long way in helping resolve land-related conflicts.

In line with this, there are a lot of pretensions established by the people who do have concern about in this phenomenon. Ramon Salvador said, “Even if the land records are computerized, there are plenty of illegal or fake or spurious titles within the country. So unless all the illegal titles are removed, it is useless. There are tens of thousands of illegal titles in the country.” In addition, “What we can do perhaps, is to give the DENR a chance to prove its worth. The best thing for the DENR to do right now is to exhaust all means to let the public know through proper information dissemination. I hope this new initiative doesn't end up as another project that goes into the sideline and gathering dusts in the shelves. My question is: Will the new cadastral survey project linked with the Land Registration Authority's computer system? Otherwise, it would be useless.” Said Randy Altarejos.

Basically, geodetic engineers survey land to know the boundaries of a certain land. Furthermore,basic survey has occurred since humans built the first large structures. The prehistoric monument at Stonehenge (c. 2500 BC) was set out by prehistoric surveyors using peg and rope geometry. In ancient Egypt, a rope stretcher would use simple geometry to re-establish boundaries after the annual floods of the Nile River. The almost perfect square and north-south orientation of the Great Pyramid of Giza, built c. 2700 BC, affirm the Egyptians' command of surveying. The Groma instrument originated in Mesopotamia (early 1st millennium BC). The mathematician Liu Hui described ways of measuring distant objects in his work Haidao suanjing or The Sea Island Mathematical Manual, published in 263 AD. The Romans recognized land surveyors as a profession. They established the basic measurements under which the Roman Empire was divided, such as a tax register of conquered lands (300 AD). Roman surveyors were known as Gromatici. In medieval Europe, beating the bounds maintained the boundaries of a village or parish. This was the practice of gathering a group of residents and walking around the parish or village to establish a communal memory of the boundaries. Young boys were included to ensure the memory lasted as long as possible. In England, William the Conqueror commissioned the Domesday Book in 1086. It recorded the names of all the land owners, the area of land they owned, the quality of the land, and specific information of the area's content and inhabitants. It did not include maps showing exact locations.

Now in 21st century, the theodolite, total station, and RTK GPS survey remain the primary methods in use.Remote sensing and satellite imagery continue to improve and become cheaper, allowing more commonplace use. Prominent new technologies include three-dimensional (3D) scanning and use of lidar for topographical surveys. UAV technology along with photogrammetric image processing is also appearing.

On the other hand, it is al so significant to title a land. The importance of title to land cannot be overemphasized. The main objects of land title registration are to protect property rights, to facilitate transactions in land, and to enable land to be used as collateral for a loan. A title provides incentives for investment in land and therefore creates an impetus for sustainable economic development. In order to hasten title registration and thus spun economic growth, the process should be simple, reliable, prompt and affordable. One of the modes of acquiring public land is by Free Patent or administrative legalization of an imperfect title. Historically, it is intended to legalize and register the undocumented private land rights of native-born Filipinos who are actual occupants of agricultural lands. It is the most expeditious, popular and affordable mode of public land disposition because the process is administrative and inexpensive to the applicant since it merely recognizes his acquisitive right over the land as actual occupant.

We all know that in surveying lands it is helpful to keep secure to our own properties. Furthermore, land delivery involves the charting of land for purposes of obtaining security to that land so as to ensure that the development thereon is protected within particular limits as guided by law. This ensures control over the developments on land to secure a sustainable environment in which the future generations are assured of an unspool Earth. This then calls for a land delivery system that uses properly charted land records that are free of conflict. In short survey records that are realized after a well executed procedure by government using existing statutes. This has not been the case in some cases and therefore this paper looks at the flaws in the system and their effects on secure tenure and sustainable development. It also recommends particular remedies to the identified flaws. It does not mention names of culprits or properties involved in the white-collar malpractices that have crept into the system. This is to protect their integrity as well as to avoid legal implications, as most of them are currently subjects of legal suits in courts of law.

According to the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), “Political stability, economic growth and social development depend on the existence of legal security for land use and socially-balanced access to land, with the government undertaking comprehensive land planning.” There are some instances that the political stability, economic growth, and social development could be the factors on legally securing a land. If the political stability of a certain land is not progressive then they could’nt manage the things regarding about land management, for example.

Ownership and long term leasehold are the most important rights in land. The actual content of these rights may vary between countries and jurisdictions. Rights to land also include the rights of use. This right may be limited through public land use regulations and restrictions, sectarian land use provisions, and also various kind of private land use regulations such as easements, covenants, etc. Many land-use rights are therefore restrictions that control the possible future use of the land. Land-use planning and restrictions are becoming increasingly important as a means to ensure effective management of land, provide infrastructure and services, protect and improve the urban and rural environment, prevent pollution, and pursue sustainable development. Planning and regulation of land activities cut across tenures and the land rights they support. Informal development may occur in various forms such as squatting where vacant state owned or private land is occupied and used illegally for housing or any construction works without having formal permission from the planning or building authorities. There is no simple solution to the problems of preventing and legalizing informal development.

Land is important but it must be surveyed especially for those people who need to transfer the name of their land title like selling land or inheritance. People must know there territory/properties for some instances. Also, there was a law for protected lands and unsuveyed lands in the Philippines that an individual should abide.