Registry of Deeds computerization making the process longer, expensive

MANILA, Philippines - I call on Congress, Office of the President and Commission on Audit to look into the online computerization of the Registry of Deeds. From what I can remember, it has been alma one year since they began (January this year) to announce the start of the computerization of their paper works. Since that time, nothing has changed or improved and it continues to add a burden to the public.

Logically speaking, if you computerize, things should go faster and become more efficient but the opposite has been happening in this government agency. For example, before the computerization, when you request for a simple certified true copy of a land title, you can get it within an hour paying only P40, but after their computerization was announced, it takes at least a week before getting a simple certified true copy of any document (with the exception of Parañaque Register of Deeds which you can get the next day, through the initiative of their deputy, Atty. Bautista) paying an excessive amount of P160.

At the beginning of the implementation of the computerization, I can understand that they are undergoing a parallel run from manual to online for adjustments, but it has been already close to one year now. With this in mind, one can only think that some people may not be doing their job right, or they are just sitting on their jobs, consciously delaying it or they cannot do the job. I suggest that the Commission on Audit should investigate the contract of Land Registration Authority with the outside company if there is any, as well as accounting where all these excessive fees go for sometime now.

For the meantime, the public is being punished for the slow job that these people responsible for the online processing of the documents are doing. For me, it is very simple, if the people (outside consultant or in-house staff of Land Registration Authority) who are implementing the online project cannot do it, then it is high time that they be replaced with a competent software/hardware company or professionals.

From what I observed (in my transaction from Manila to Davao), it is not only the public that is suffering with this so called “computerization”, but the Registry of Deeds employees themselves because I can see that they have been more busy with longer queue than before the computerization has started. So after the computerization, nothing has changed except more work for the employees and longer waiting time, with more expense for the public. The question is, until when will the public continue to suffer? To the LRA Administrator: Please wake up! People are already tired and are anxious to see proper implementation of the real online Registry of Deeds as soon as possible