The Land Registration Authority (LRA) is investigating the origins and ownership history of several land titles covering around 38.83 hectares of illegally reclaimed areas on the Taguig City side of Laguna Lake, Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said.

Senator Panfilo Lacson (OS Lacson photo)

Lacson said the LRA began reviewing the titles based on documents and other materials submitted by the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA).

“I requested them to backtrack the history of the issued OCTs (original certificates of title) and other modes of titling, so we will find out how they were manipulated with the end in view of filing criminal charges against those responsible,” Lacson said.

Based on the senator’s initial information, some of the original certificates of title (OCTs) were issued through judicial or ordinary land registration proceedings, while others were granted through homestead patents.

Lacson said the titles could eventually be invalidated if the PRA proceeds with forfeiture proceedings as provided under the law.

He earlier disclosed that the LRA was reviewing documents from the PRA to determine whether titles had been issued over portions of Laguna Lake that had been reclaimed illegally.

Aside from the land titles, Lacson said several crates of documents from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) concerning allegedly anomalous projects in Taguig City were also set to be submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman.

The documents form part of the evidence that Lacson and his staff have previously provided to the Ombudsman as part of their investigation into alleged irregularities involving infrastructure and reclamation projects in Taguig.

The Ombudsman is conducting a fact-finding investigation into the projects and has subpoenaed the DPWH, PRA, LRA and the Taguig Registry of Deeds for documents relevant to the probe.

Lacson’s office had earlier submitted evidence covering at least five case studies involving alleged irregularities in Taguig infrastructure projects. These included supposed ghost projects, double appropriations, the reuse of photographs for billing purposes, and the alleged diversion of funds intended for slope protection projects to finance what Lacson described as “unabated and illegal” reclamation activities.

The senator said these cases should be thoroughly examined by the Ombudsman and other government agencies responsible for establishing accountability and safeguarding public property and resources.

Lacson added that he and his staff would continue submitting documents and other evidence gathered from their case studies to assist the Ombudsman’s investigation.