LRA acquires new weapon in fight versus fake land titles

The Land Registration Authority (LRA), the protector of the country's Torrens System of land titles and deeds registration, is at the threshold of a new style of public service through its Land Title Computerization Project. By using the cutting edge of information technology, it will acquire a new weapon in the war against land titling lawlessness.

Sen. Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr., chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee and special guest, and Justice Secretary Serafin R. Cuevas, guest speaker at the 97th LRA anniversary program Tuesday, expressed their strong support to LRA efforts to cleanse the Torrens system of land titles and deeds registration.

They commended LRA Administrator Alfredo R. Enriquez for launching the no-nonsense campaign amid declining public confidence in the system for the last two decades.

A former prosecutor and judge for two decades before his LRA appointment, Enriquez, said the information technology strategy is the agency's "historic breakthrough" in combating the evils of fake, spurious and tampered land titles.

Pimentel, Cuevas, Solicitor General Ricardo F. Galvez, Agrarian Reform Secretary Horacio R. Morales Jr., Assistant Solicitor General Mariano M. Martinez and Associate Solicitor III Tomas M. Navarro received LRA plaques of appreciation at a morning program at the agency quadrangle.

Morales and Cuevas led in the distribution of some agrarian reform certificates of title to farmer beneficiaries covering hundreds of hectares of rice lands in Lian, Batangas.

Adapted from the Australian scheme of land title registration through judicial confirmation and recording in government archives, the Torrens System was introduced in the Philippines by legislation on Nov. 6, 1902, but the system took effect on Feb. 1, 1903.

In the last two decades, public confidence in the land titling has nose-dived amid the proliferation of fake, spurious and tampered land titles. Under Enriquez, LRA responded to the crisis with a no-nonsense campaign to shore up the integrity of the land titling system.

As a result of the campaign, three registrars of deeds in Metro Manila, another in Davao City, and three deputy registrars of deeds in Metro Manila were relieved of their duties. Except for the cases of two deputy registrars still being investigated, all cases have been probed and reports with recommendations have been submitted to the Department of Justice for administrative sanctions.

The Caloocan City registrar was dismissed by President Estrada on the recommendation of Cuevas and Enriquez for violating provisions of the registration law and for changing the dates of issuance of the Original Certificate of Title No. 994 in the Maysilo Estates titling scandal. Enriquez earlier dismissed the deputy registrar.

The registrar of Occidental Mindoro was dismissed for being caught receiving marked money in an NBI entrapment operation. Enriquez dismissed the registration examiner.

Then, Enriquez formed the five-agency Titulong Malinis Task Force composed of the Department of Justice, the Office of the Solicitor General, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, the National Bureau of Investigation and the LRA as lead agency. The group has been going after corrupt and inefficient personnel within and the land titling syndicates outside. The Task Force received more than 250 complaints and reports from the public. After investigating them, it referred 24 cases to the DOJ for criminal prosecution of guilty parties, 30 cases to the OSG for filing of suits to cancel the fake titles and 30 cases are still being investigated and surveillance of the illegal activities is going on.

In the new year, LRA takes on a revolutionary tack in the war against title lawlessness, using the cutting edge of information technology against the enemies.

The computerization project will establish a fool-proof titling system to weed out fake, spurious and tampered titles from the vaults of some registries. The tampering has been taking place in the last few years under what is known as "Bunot-Saksak Operation," a conspiracy between corrupt registry of deeds personnel and corruptors outside.

In three years, Enriquez said, the LRA main office and the registries of deeds will be able to spot within seconds through computers whether the transfer certificates of title being presented are genuine or fake.