A HANDBOOK on land tenurial instruments, which will aid and clarify squabbles on land acquisition and ownership, was launched Wednesday in Baguio City.
“The publishing of the book will ease the roadblocks and conflicts on mandates of government agencies,” National Commission on Indigenous Peoples Regional Director Amador Batay-an said.
The book launching was organized by the Regional Development Council (RDC).
RDC acting chairman Juan Ngalob said the book will fast track the implementation of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act as well as the quest of the region for autonomy.
Land tenurial instruments are legal documents, which may come in the form of a land title, agreement, or permit issued by pertinent government offices over a particular land area to an individual or entity.
These instruments are a form of recognition given by the government through its agencies like the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, NCIP, Department of Agrarian Reform, Land Registration Authority and Register of Deeds to secure management, ownership and use of land and its resources.
“Covered and outlined in the book are the different processes and the first steps a land claimant may take before they will be given registration of the land by the LRA (Land Registration Authority),” Batay-an said.
Claimants of ancestral lands through the basic native title concept or those IP groups claiming for their possessions which are not part of public domain Batay-an said will be aided by the handbook.
“When an individual shows land tenurial instruments, it shows evidence that the person is the owner of the land and he can impose whatever he wants to do with the land,” Batay-an added. (JM Agreda)