Land titling scam threatens 5,000 Caloocan residents

At least 5,000 informal settlers in Caloocan City could lose their homes due to the alleged land titling irregularity and antiquated system in various government land administration agencies.

Ric Domingo, national coordinator of the National Anti-Poverty Commission’s Task Force LARA (Land Administration Reform Act), said the urban poor sector, particularly in Maligaya Park Subdivision and the Capitol Parkland Subdivision in Caloocan City North, is the most affected of this scam.

Domingo said that for almost a decade now, informal settlers of the two subdivisions and their private claimants are yet to settle their row in court due to the alleged negligence on the part of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Lands Management Bureau (DENR-LMB).

"For 10 years now, we have suffered from the ills of an antiquated, inefficient land administration system, particularly its multiple agencies and laws," Domingo said in a statement.

Domingo explained that with the proliferation of spurious land titles, dubious land claimants were able to get titles for large tracks of land belonging to the indigenous people in conspiracy with people in government.

"These problems can only be addressed through institutional reforms in land administration system," Domingo said.

He added that the present functions of land agencies including the DENR’s LMB, Lands Management Services (LMS) and National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA), and the Department of Justice’s (DOJ)Land Registration Authority (LRA) and Registries of Deeds (RoDs) should be consolidated into a single agency.

This, he said, would lessen red tape and costly transactions, thus providing the poor easy access to land information and other land records.

"Significantly, it will help the basic sectors acquire security of tenure over the land they are presently occupying," Domingo said.