by Aileen Refuerzo
The city government is working on reconciling conflicting laws relative to the disposition of alienable lots in the city.

The mayor last week convened a committee earlier requested by the city council to review, study and recommend actions on the developments surrounding Republic Act No. 10023, a new law that authorizes the issuance of free patents to residential lands.

The mayor said that with the committee at work, the city hopes to find a common ground amid the conflicting provisions of the city’s present procedures of disposing lots in accordance with its status as a townsite reservation vis-à-vis the provisions of the Free Patent law and the Indigenous People’s Rights Act (IPRA) law.

“I hope that this will resolve the issues arising from these conflicting laws and guide us properly in dealing with the disposition of lands here in our city,” the mayor said.


The mayor also said that whatever decisions on the land disposition procedures that will be agreed on by the committee will be adopted by the city for incorporation in the proposed bill to amend the city charter which is now undergoing deliberation before the Senate.

The committee which the mayor heads is composed of the city legal officer as co-chair with the chair of the city council committee on urban planning, lands and housing, the city planning and development coordinator, city assessor and representatives of concerned line agencies primarily the Dept. Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as members.

The city has been asking the DENR to defer the implementation of the Free Patents law in the city due to the conflict.
City and DENR-CAR officials earlier agreed that the free patents law runs counter to the city’s present procedure of disposing alienable and disposable lots and thus is inapplicable to the city’s setting as a townsite reservation.


They said townsite sales applications (TSAs) cannot be converted into residential free patents.

TSAs have a maximum of 1,000 square meters of land to be claimed as compared to residential free patents with a maximum of 200 square meters in highly urbanized cities like Baguio.

Officials fear that this will be abused by land claimants of alienable or disposable lands by opting for residential free patents because under the new law, multiple applications may be made up to 12 hectares of land owned by claimants nationwide resulting to land monopoly.

The committee is looking into the DENR Administrative Order No. 2010-12 which promulgates the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for the issuance of free patents under the act and the Draft Administrative Order providing guidelines for the disposition of alienable lands for residential purpose in the city of Baguio relative to the free patents law.

Republic Act No. 10023 entitled “An Act Authorizing the Issuance of Free Patents to Residential Lands” was signed into law by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in March last year.

The DENR considers said new law as a “landmark measure as it streamlined the requirements and procedures of land titling involving zoned residential lands.” *(AR/Baguio City PIO//PIA CAR)