Aquino returns land registration agency to DOJ

President Benigno Aquino III has returned the Land Registration Authority (LRA) to the supervision of the Department of Justice (DOJ) by virtue of Executive Order 30, to ensure a more effective and efficient execution of laws relative to land registration. LRA, which is the national agency tasked to keep records and issue certificates of land ownership, was an attached agency of the DOJ until the previous Arroyo administration transferred its management to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in 2007 by virtue of Executive Order No. 690. Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said Friday the President, in signing EO 30 on March 14, also ordered the repeal of EO 690 issued by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on December 28, 2007. Ochoa said LRA was proven more effective under the DOJ’s watch given the “expertise and experience" of those in the justice department. The EO invoked the need for “a more responsive and efficient bureaucracy by adopting homogenous grouping of functionally related government agencies." “With due regard to the quasi-judicial functions being performed by the LRA in land registration cases, and given the present mandate, organizational capability, expertise and experience of the LRA and its Registries of Deeds throughout the country, it is more appropriate that the LRA and its Registries of Deeds continue to perform its land registration functions under the DOJ," the EO read. LRA as agency on land ownership The law mandates the Land Registration Authority to issue decrees of registration and certificates of titles and register documents, patents and other land transactions for the benefit of landowners, Agrarian Reform-beneficiaries and the registering public in general, and provide a trustworthy record of land ownership in the country. As such, the LRA maintains the Torrens system of land titling and registration, and serves as the central repository of all land records or title histories involving registered or titled lands. It issues decrees of registration pursuant to final judgment of the courts in land registration proceedings and causes the issuance by a registrar of deeds the corresponding certificate of title. It is tasked to issue all subsequent or transfer certificates of title which may either be issued judicially or administratively. The LRA also provides legal and technical assistance to the courts on land registration cases, and extends assistance to other agencies of the government in the implementation cases including implementation of the agrarian reform program. EO 30 takes effect immediately upon its publication in the Official Gazette on March 18.—JV, GMA News