Neg. Occ. PENRO distributes 200 titles to boost agriculture

June 27, 2017
The Visayan Daily Star
http://www.visayandailystar.com/2017/June/27/businessnews2.htm

The Negros Occidental Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office distributed around 200 original land titles this month to boost agricultural activities and provide permanent residences to Negrenses in small villages, PENRO-OIC Edgardo Rostata said yesterday.

Rostata said the distribution of the original land titles is under the HandogTitulo program of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, through the administrative titling of the agency funded through the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

“It will cost too much for them if they will hire a private company to survey their lands, that is why DENR offers this free service to those who are interested to have their own land titles for residential and agricultural purposes” he said.

As of yesterday they had already handed over 105 land title patents in E.B. Magalona and 65 in Kabankalan City. Another HandogTitulo program will also be conducted in Cadiz City at the end of June.

He said PENRO aims to distribute 550 original land titles this year and another distribution will be conducted in November.

Rostata also said that aside from the distribution of land titles, HandogTitulo also offers seminars for the beneficiaries, meetings with the community, and land surveying.

He added that they have distributed around 1,900 titles last year and the decrease in the distribution this year is due to the amount of the budget allocated for the program.

“Original titling is conducted if the land has no title,” he said, adding, “If they have already the titles they could boost the productivity of their lands and improve economic activities in their area.”

The titles include patents for agricultural, residential and special patents for building of schools and barangay offices in the area, he said.

“If the land has an absolute owner, it can caise the overall development of a certain community through growing businesses and employment opportunities,” Rostata added. *MLG