Toledo City owns 191 untitled lots

CEBU, Philippines - The city of Toledo has been in possession of 191 parcels of land since 1905 without Torrens Titles or Transfer Certificate of Titles.

The city’s inventory of said parcels of land valued at P33 million with a total land area of 95.66 hectares were not supported with titles, thus affecting the agency’s claim of ownership over the properties, said the Commission on Audit.

Section 39 (2) of Presidential Decree 1445 provides that, “In case of deeds or property purchased by any government agency, the Commission shall require certificate of title entered in favor of government or other evidence satisfactory to it that the title is in the government.”

In its 2013 audit report, COA said that although not all these lots were acquired through purchase because some were received through donation or contribution, titles are still required to support the city’s ownership.

“Absence of such documents creates doubt on the validity of the claim of ownership over the 191 parcels of land,” the state auditor said.

COA noted in the inventory report that some of the lands of which titling are already in process were acquired as far back as 1905. There were also land items in the schedule with no acquisition date.

The city in its effort to have all its lands be titled into its name had engaged the services of a private surveyor on March 11, 2010.

The scope of work specified in the contract includes actual field survey of concerned lot, preparation of sketch plan and technical description  of  lot; preparation of final lot data, field notes (survey returns); and submittal of Survey Returns to the Bureau of Lands for verification and approval.

The cost proposal as provided in the contract was P6,500 each for untitled lots and P4,000 each for titled lots. Project duration was four to five months for titled lots and 10 to 12 months for untitled lots.

The contract also specified that the private surveyor shall bill the city 50 percent of each lot upon completion of sketch plan and the remaining 50 percent upon delivery of the approved plan for each work.

In 2010 and 2011, the city reportedly paid the survey services of the private surveyor totaling P214,250 representing 62 untitled lots and seven titled lots.

COA found out that as of December 31, 2013, no single title was accomplished by the private surveyor.

The City General Services Office has already sent various letters to the private surveyor and already referred the matter to the Legal Services Department of the City.

“The City may loss the amount already paid to the private surveyor if no action would be taken immediately,” COA said.

COA has recommended that  the City give preferential attention on the titling of the 191 lots.

Likewise, COA also recommended that manpower and logistics should be allocated for the immediate transfer of title of these lots to the name of the city. — /FPL (FREEMAN)