Thursday, October 09, 2008 Environment office: Preserve land monuments By Reynaldo G. Navales
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Environment officials in Central Luzon have urged local government units (LGUs) and other institutions engaged in surveying and development planning to use land monuments established under the Philippine Reference System of 1992 (PRS92) to ensure precision and accuracy in surveying and mapping.
Regidor De Leon, executive director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Central Luzon, said the land monuments are actually satellite-fed geodetic control points that are marked on the ground by "mojons."
According to him, the use of the land monuments will settle land conflicts in the region.
"These land monuments provide important and precise information on the exact location, boundary, and coordinates of an area," he said. "Using Global Positioning System (GPS) technology and state-of-the-art equipment, surveying and mapping has never been more accurate since the 1900s."
A total of 170 new land monuments have already been established in the provinces of Bataan and Zambales covering 25 towns while 220 old monuments have been "recovered" since the PRS92 project started in 2007.
Recovery of old monuments involved re-establishing or restoring those that have been destroyed or moved to another place so that coordinates are still accurate and can still be used as reference for geodetic surveys.
This year, at least 480 old mojons will be recovered in the provinces of Zambales and Nueva Ecija and 220 more monuments shall be put up in Zambales by DENR engineers and reputable private surveyors accredited by the DENR.
Engineer Cesar Amada of the Regional Composite Survey Team said the establishment of additional survey monuments in closer intervals constitutes the "densification" component of PRS92, which intends to speed up surveying activities.
This, he added, would also bring down surveying costs as "tie points" become geographically nearer.
"As tie points become geographically nearer to each other, the more accurate the survey becomes. This reduces the risk of surveying error and eliminates additional costs for corrective survey," he said.
Under the PRS92 "Adopt-a-Mojon" program, the DENR enters into partnership with local governments and other institutions for the joint protection of these land monuments.
Most of the old mojons are now found in isolated private backyards and residential areas. Many have been removed or destroyed to give way to construction and development.
Others are vandalized by treasure hunters and ordinary citizens who mistake them for markers for some buried treasure.
The DENR is set to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the Mayors' League of Pampanga, Bataan, and Aurora for the implementation "Adopt-a-Mojon" Program.
"What ordinary citizens do not know is that these mojons hold the key to settling bitter boundary disputes and land conflict cases which clog the local courts by the hundreds each year," De Leon explained.
He added that precise surveys are also needed in guiding local governments in their real property valuation, tax collection, and land use planning.
According to De Leon, the DENR is set to complete the establishment of PRS92 control points throughout the country by 2010 to bring the country's level of surveying and mapping at par with global standards.
"We expect that the PRS92 project would help settle all land conflict cases, allow greater efficiency in land administration, and promote development not only here in Central Luzon but in the entire country," De Leon said.
