DENR produces manual for land resource management

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has published a guidebook seeking to improve management of land resources while stamping out graft in the land sector. An article on the DENR website Monday said the agency expects the material to be a "vital tool" in the Lands Management Bureau's (LMB) policy research and formulation. "It is, therefore, important that the manual, which should be implemented as soon as possible, includes not only technical aspects but also moral concerns," DENR Assistant Secretary for Local Government Gerardo Calderon said. The guidebook was an output of the 50-day training program attended by nine employees of the LMB and sponsored by the Philippines-Australia Human Resource Development Facility (PAHRDF). LMB Director Gerino Tolentino Jr. said the PAHRDF contributed to the success of the training of the bureau's staff on the following: policy research and development, policy research and writing, data analysis, data/policy presentation and packaging, and conduct of advocacy programs for LMB's policy recommendations. He said that aside from the guidebook, other training outputs include two policy documents, including the guidelines for the acceleration of the processing of land applications in Taguig, Metro Manila, and the guidelines for the cancellation of abandoned cadastral surveys in the Philippines. "The guidelines for the acceleration of the processing of land applications in Taguig will fasttrack land distribution in Lower Bicutan, Upper Bicutan, Western Bicutan and Signal Village because so far only 50 percent of the total 423 hectares have been distributed in these areas since Proclamation No. 172 was issued in 1987," Tolentino said. He noted some 104 cadastral survey contracts awarded by LMB to private contractors from 1961 to 1996 had been abandoned by the contractors. - GMANews.TV