Leyte makes way for forest development

Sustainable land development in the six municipalities of Leyte will soon be hastened after the launching and inauguration of the Land Administration and Management Project (LAMP) Prototype-I One Stop shop (OSS) in Palo, Leyte on July 5, 2002. DENR Undersecretary Gregorio Cabantac, Keith Oblitas of world bank, Alastair McKensie of AusAID, and Gov. Remedios Petilla of Leyte graced the occasion, along with representatives of some government agencies involved with the project, the DAR, NEDA, DBM, ILRA and DOF.

The project is the first step towards the implementation of the country’s long term (20-25 years) Land Administration and Management Program. It is a multi-agency undertaking with DENR as the proejct’s lead agency on studies relating to forest boundaries. A task Force has been created by the Project Management office for the purpose.

The project is the first Learning and Innovation Loan approved by the World Bank in the Philippines. It also receives funding and technical support from the Australian Agency for International Development. Its overall goal is to alleviate poverty and enhance economic growth by improving security of land tenure and fostering efficient land markets both in rural and urban areas. This will be done through the establishment of an efficient system of land titling and administration which is based on clear, coherent and consistent policies and laws supported by an appropriate institutional structure.

The operation of LAMP Prototype I is crucial as it will serve as learning process towards development of policy direction and system on land administration and management that shall be adopted in the entire country. For this purpose, the lessons learned from LAMP Prototype II in the DENR National Capital Region will also be considered. The appropriate system when implemented will greatly minimize fake titles, boundary conflicts, snail-paced titling process, and other land related problems, which have not been solved for several decades. It will lead to integrity of land titles that can spur commitment to land development thereby facilitating the flow of social and economic benefits to the Filipinos.