By Marie Marticio TACLOBAN City – In order to speed up land titling and improve the country’s land management and administration, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 8, in partnership with the local government units (LGUs), has implemented a strategy called Rapid Land Tenure Appraisal (RLTA) that would provide an accurate inventory of the remaining untitled lands which may be subjected to titling. (MANILA BULLETIN) DENR Assistant Regional Director for Management Services Arturo Salazar said that the RLTA, which includes profiling or assessment, and systematic adjudication including free surveying and free titling, was introduced by DENR’s Land Management Bureau (LMB) to support Agenda 6 of the present administration. This seeks to ensure the security of land tenure to encourage investments and address bottlenecks in land management and titling processes. For Eastern Visayas, the RLTA will be implemented in the municipalities of Villaba, Leyte; Malitbog, Southern Leyte; Culaba, Biliran; Basey, Samar; and Lapinig, Northern Samar this year. He added that DENR would enter into a Memorandum of Partnership Agreement (MOPA) with said municipalities to strengthen DENR-LGU partnership, and to ensure that activities for RLTA are well-implemented. The MOPA stipulates the roles and responsibilities of both parties, which include the creation of land management office at the municipalities concerned and assigning staff from the DENR and LGU to conduct land titling activities within their territorial jurisdiction. Recently, a MOPA signing was held with the local governments of Lapinig, Northern Samar and Villaba, Leyte. A MOPA between the DENR and the municipality of Gamay which was piloted to jump-start the RLTA implementation in 2018, and Mapanas, Northern Samar where RLTA would be implemented next year was also inked. “This is bringing government services closer to the people through the LGUs. Avail of the land titling services in your area while the project is being implemented”, Director Salazar urged. He also requested the LGU officials and their constituents to extend full cooperation and assistance to the implementation of RLTA activities to expedite the land titling process. He stressed that land titles are proof of absolute ownership which will improve the social and economic status of the landowners and the municipality. Meanwhile, the LGU officials are enthusiastic about the new government project and optimistic that this will address land disputes within their jurisdiction. They are hopeful that the RLTA would provide a clearer figure of the revenue their municipality would yield from the land.