PRESCRIBING NEW GUIDELINES, APPLICATION FORM AND STANDARDS FOR PUBLIC LAND APPLICATIONS AND RECORDS MANAGEMENT

Pursuant to Executive Order No. 192 and consistent with the present
thrust of the Department to accelerate land disposition activities in a
coherent and uniform manner, improve the present system of
administrative titling procedures, preserve the integrity of public land
records and promote the stability of tenurial rights to complement the
food security program of the government, the following guidelines are
hereby prescribed for the guidance and compliance of all concerned:

A.        Survey Examination

1.      Re-examine all approved cadastral maps and ascertain
whether all Land Classification (LC) maps and or reservations were
properly projected therein to ascertain that lots for disposition fall
specifically within the alienable and disposable (A and D) areas.

2.      Cadastral lots and other legally approved surveys, if
any, found within timberlands shall be treated separately for issuance
of appropriate tenurial instruments while those found within protected
areas shall be treated in accordance with the NIPAS Act.

3.      The CENR Officer shall review all pertinent documents
prior to the issuance of Survey Authority for the subdivision of any
cadastral lot.

4.      The Regional Surveys Division shall regularly update the
cadastral maps to reflect subsequent surveys. All PENROs and CENROs
shall be regularly furnished copies of approved cadastral maps and
isolated survey plans. The same shall be reflected in the Unified
Projection Maps and Base/Control maps at the CENRO/PENRO levels,
respectively.

B.        Filing of Applications

1.    All applications to be filed after the effectivity of this
Order shall use the new Public Land Application Form in Annex A of this
Order for all patent applications.

2.    The application shall be filed personally by the applicant
or by his duly authorized representative before the CENR Office
concerned.

3.    Determine whether the applicant is the survey claimant as
listed in the alphabetical or numerical list of survey claimants and by
verifying the same in the sketch and survey record card and lot
allocation book. If the applicant is not the survey claimant, the
applicant must show proof how that land has been acquired from the said
survey claimant.

4.    Prior to receipt of application, the Records Officer of the
CENR Office shall ascertain compliance with all requirements for the
application. Applications with incomplete requirement/s shall not be
accepted.

5.    The accepted application, which has complied in form and
substance, shall then be forwarded by the Records Officer to the CENR
Officer who shall assign the said application to the Land Management
Officer who in turn shall immediately refer or assign the same to the
land inspector for appropriate field inspection and shall conduct the
field inspection/verification within fifteen (15) days upon receipt of
the referral and who shall submit the corresponding report five (5) days
after the field inspection.

C.        Application Processing

1.      The land inspectors/land investigators, within thirty
(30) days from the last day of posting of notice of homestead patent or
any public land application shall conduct the necessary field
inspection. Thereafter, the land inspectors/land investigators shall
prepare and submit within five (5) days the inspection report under oath
to the CENRO or the action taken by them on the application and the
status thereof. Consequently, the Land Management Officer shall monitor
these applications and submit monthly reports for this purpose.

2.      The application shall be given due course if found in
order. However, upon discovery of any false, fraudulent, inaccurate, and
falsified material information in the preliminary examination, the
application shall be rejected immediately, based on the following
grounds: 1) the land is not alienable and disposable land of the public
domain; 2) the land is covered by a proclamation or reservation or by
NIPAS Law; 3) the land overlaps with any other lot with an approved
survey plan; 4) the application lacks the required supporting documents.
The application must be accompanied by a certification of the CENR
Officer concerned duly annotated on the isolated survey plan itself or
on the BL Form V-37 for approved cadastral lots and under oath that the
land is within alienable and disposable land. However, in the NCR and
regions of similar situation where the CENR Offices’ functions have been
absorbed by the RED, the required certification shall be issued by the
ARED for Operations.

3.      No transfer of rights during its pendency shall be
allowed except for homestead applications and in cases of hereditary
succession with prior approval of the office concerned.

4.      No application shall be given due course unless all
existing rules and regulations are fully complied with, including but
not limited to the publication requirements and submission of required
certifications from concerned government agencies.

5.      Within ten (10) days upon receipt of the report as
submitted by land inspectors/land investigators on the applications, the
CENR Officer shall prepare and issue orders approving, cancelling
and/or rejecting the application stating the reasons or grounds thereof,
unless it is protested, in which case procedures should be followed for
the issuance of an investigation order. All public land applications
shall be acted with dispatch.

D.        Land Records Management

1.    All records shall at all times be filed in the Records Room
and shall only be accessed upon request and prior approval by the CENR
Officer. The control and management of DENR land records shall be
strictly in accordance with the Operation Manual on the New DENR Records
Management System pursuant to DENR Administrative Order No. 36, Series
of 1993.

2.    The Records Officer shall submit a report in tabulated form
to the PENR Officer through the CENR Officer twice a month on the
applications received and the actions taken thereon.

3.    The PENR Officer shall likewise submit a similar
consolidated monthly report to the Regional Executive Director (RED).  
ADCETI

4.    The RED shall submit the region-wide report to the Secretary on a quarterly basis.

5.    The Records Officer shall immediately report to the CENR
Officer any missing record, copy furnished the PENR Officer, the RED,
and the Secretary.

6.    There shall be continuous training of personnel on records
management to upgrade their knowledge and skills on the latest
development trends on records and information management to include the
latest digital technology.

E.        Penal Provision – Administrative and
criminal sanctions shall be imposed on personnel and officials, after
due process, who have participated in the commission of
misrepresentation and other infractions relative to this Order.

F.         Repealing Clause – All orders, rules
and regulations or any part thereof which are inconsistent herewith are
hereby repealed or amended accordingly.

G.        Effectivity – This Order shall take
effect upon acknowledgment from the U.P. Law Center and after fifteen
(15) days from the date of publication in at least two (2) newspapers of
general circulation.

Adopted: 01 Sept. 2000

(SGD.) ANTONIO H. CERILLES
Secretary