Senate approves bill that simplifies land titling to help farmers

The Senate passed on Tuesday Senator Richard J. Gordon’s bill that simplifies the procedure and requirements in granting land titles to help rural farmers secure land certificates easily.

Senate Bill No. 1931 was certified as urgent by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on December 15 “to allow the continuous titling of public alienable and disposable agricultural lands beyond December 31, 2020 and ultimately preserve the security of tenure of land claimants and farmers.”

The certification authorized the Senate to approve the bill on second and third reading on the same day, allowing for faster passage of the measure.

“We want to manifest that we have reviewed the proposed measure. We find it necessary and urgent, and we have no questions and interpellations,” said Senate Minority Floor Leader Franklin Drilon, who was among those who expressed intention of co-authoring the bill.

Gordon thanked the senators for backing the proposed act and expressed gratitude for the support of the Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF) that advocates for tenure security, agricultural productivity and well-defined property rights.

On the other hand, FEF President Calixto Chikiamco conveyed his appreciation to Gordon thru a text message.

“Thank you so much. The country salutes you for another landmark law,” he said.

Senate Bill No. 1931 aims to address the difficulties encountered in proving ownership since 1945 by removing the need for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary’s certification and the barriers of proving ownership.

It also synchronizes and shortens the period of possession required for perfection of imperfect titles from 74 years to 30 years.

Another objective of the bill is to disregard the deadline set on December 31, 2020 for the filing of application of agricultural free patents.

“If no law is passed to extend or remove the period of application, no new agricultural free patent will be issued by DENR and poor rural farmers may not be able to title their lands. If we allow our farmers to have property rights by securing land titles, we are giving them an opportunity to improve their lives as they can use land as collateral in order to borrow more capital and further improve their lot,” said Gordon.