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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Public agricultural land acquisition to be made easier by approved House bill

Public agricultural land acquisition to be made easier by approved House bill

Published Aug 6, 2023 02:55 pm

At A Glance

  • The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a bill that aims to do away with the old, complicated process of acquiring public agricultural lands.

IMG-591b01ea3b85b0bee31fafa842c5ef59-V.jpgHouse of Representatives (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a bill that aims to do away with the old, complicated process of acquiring public agricultural lands.

Gaining 193 "yes" votes, zero "no" votes, and zero abstentions last Wednesday, Aug. 2 was House Bill (HB) No.7728, which seeks to amend a provision in the 87-year-old Commonwealth Law.

The Public Land Act of 1936 (Commonwealth) is the general law in the country that governs the classification, delimitation, survey, and disposition of alienable lands of the public domain.

Speaker Martin Romualdez, the leader of the 312-member House, said HB No.7728 will replace Section 24 of the decades-old law, “simplifying” and expediting the otherwise longer, if not cumbersome, acquisition of properties.

The House approved the same measure on second reading on May 30, before Congress went on a June 3 break.

Under the new proposal, notices of sale that will be undertaken by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Central Office will be reduced to once a week for just “two consecutive weeks”--down from the previous six weeks.

These shall be published in the Official Gazette and in “two newspapers".

One of the two newspapers should be in Metro Manila, while the other one should be published in the local municipality or in the neighboring province where such agricultural property for sale is located.

The notice should be posted on the “bulletin board” of the DENR Main Office, and in the “most conspicuous place in the provincial and the municipal building of the province and municipality, respectively, where the land is located, and if practicable, on the land itself".

But if the property value is only pegged at P50,000, then the publication process will no longer require the OG and newspapers, since the notice can now be posted in three “conspicuous places” of the property on sale.

These requirements shall now be replaced by posting the notices in the “barangays and municipality where the land is located, and on the land itself, for the notice of that application".

The notice shall be published in “English or in the local dialect", and shall fix a date 30 days - unlike in the previous 60 - “after the date of the notice upon which the land will be awarded to the highest bidder.”

The secretary of the DENR was tasked to issue all the necessary rules and regulations to implement the proposed measure.

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House of Representatives Commonwealth Third and Final Reading
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