MANILA, Philippines - Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services, Ltd. (IL&FS), one of the top companies in India, is expected to further increase its investments in the country, buoyed in part by the emerging vision of PresidentAquino for a public-private sector partnership as a way to address the governments budgetary woes.
IL&FS which has a presence in Southeast Asia and the Middle East markets ranging from end-to-end technology solutions to project financing and infrastructure build-up, undertook four years ago, a BOO (build, own, operate) project in the Philippines for the Land Registration Authority (LRA) for its land titling and computerization project. Spread over four phases to be completed in three years time and a concession period of 10 years, the project was undertaken at no cost to the government.
It is through this concept of BOO and BOT (build, operate, transfer) projects and their variations that allow countries, such as the Philippines, to induce development even without draining government coffers. The concepts are meant to let the private sector take part in a nation’s development and be assured of a fair return on its investments.
The Land Registration Systems Incorporated (LARES), headed by Delfin Hallare Jr. is a partner of the Land Registration Authority (LRA) as it progresses from its century-old manual system to a more secure, reliable and computerized land titling system.
LARES, a complete end-to-end IT company, with expertise in systems integration software programming and facilities management, ensures the integrity of the land titling registration system of the Philippines. It will move the LRA from a largely paper-based to a significantly paperless government agency, therefore, securing tighter control over land titles and eliminating fraudulent titles. A more reliable and predictable land registration system shall be implemented by streamlining and standardizing current processes to attain outputs within set time frames.
The new computerized system guarantees that land titles are protected from loss due to fire, theft, natural disasters and the normal ravages of time because LARES is using security-tested document-imaging technology.