Free Patent Act (RA 10023), signed into law

[...] information about this newly enacted law and its salient features, please read this related story: Free Patent Act (RA 10023) signed into law. Read the full text of RA 10023 after the [...]

This is a very welcome news! I think a lot of people will benefit from this new law. I sure hope that the gov’t will be able to implement this smoothly.
.-= Allan @ Rich Money Habits´s last blog ..Announcing the winner of the FREE Rich Dad Poor Dad book! =-.

Hi Allan, I second to that! I look forward to the release of the implementing rules and regulations of the free patent act and I really hope it would be very simple for people to make use of this new law. Thanks for dropping by!

damn.. my relatives got kicked out of the land we were occupying for 29 years just over a year ago. im pretty sure we were up to date on taxes too. thanks for sharing…

Hi,

I’m Elmer M and I am part of the team that worked on the Free Patent Law for Residential Areas. We have been working on this for two years and finally it is a law. We are now on the stage of preparing the IRR that would cover the new law and hopefully it would be beneficial to those who are occupying untitled public land in residential areas soonest. We hope to have the first draft of the IRR out by May 2010. If you have any queries or would want us to brief you on the salient points of this law and what is the emerging thinking on the IRR please do send me you inputs and replies. Happy Easter to all.

I have some relatives who bought their “RIGHTS” on a small piece of lot (maybe about 50 sq-m) for the more than 10 years now. They build their own small store in it. They are paying their “taxes” to the barangay. The lot is public and beside the community of “informal settlers” (squatters). will they qualify here. Are informal settlers entitled to this? I can see some big gray areas which may be considered in the drafting of the IRR. I hope it would be an honest to goodness IRR that would be made to the advantage of our brothers in the depressed areas. I request a reply on this matter. Thanks.

Hi Shaun,that’s unfortunate. Maybe there’s a better property meant for your relatives. You’re welcome and thanks for dropping by!

Hi Elmer, it is a great honor for me to have one of the team members who worked on the Free Patent Act to visit and leave a comment here, thank you very much! I see the new law as something that a lot of Filipinos would really benefit from.

I will surely let you know if I or any of the readers have questions about the IRR as I believe you would be in the best position to answer them. Thanks again!

Hi Erni, thanks for raising your question, I’m sure there a lot of people out there who have the same question. I’m not really an expert on the Free Patent law but I’m sure Elmer above would be glad to answer with a comment.

Hi Erni,

To be sure whether you fall under the new law. first ascertain if the land is public land? There are many types of public land (national and LGU-lands). If public land that was classified as forestlands but has now developed into a settlement area, then your property will be qualified. Next, please confirm the transfer of rights. Do you have a formal document or understanding on this transfer of rights. Next has the LGU zoned the area as residential. This is a major requirement of the law to establish whether it is already been designated residential by an LGU zoning ordinance even if it is classified as forestlands. Then of course the ten years (which would be established through an affidavit by 2 disinterested residents). The payment of “taxes” to the barangay??? (what is this?)…is this real property taxes?? anyway, this is now just an additional consideration to establish your occupancy. The affidavit is the primary requirement. Of course, you also have to establish that the structure you have constructed is also being used as residence. This could be worked out by establishing that they also stay or reside in the property. With this you can already apply for free patent for that property. The only fees you have to pay would be for the administrative processing of the patent. Your application would be evaluated by the local CENRO and endorsed for approval to the PENRO. This are just some of the possible guidelines that owuld be included in the IRR. We are still drafting and refining the initial guidelines which we hope could be released by May 2010. Thanks for your patience.

Hi Elmer,

My grandparents had lived for almost 50 yrs in a govt lot and i think the land can be applied for a free patent. Today 6 families (all relatives) live there. I just like to
to ask wif a patent is synonymous with rights or a land title? our LGU has offered to sell the land for 350K
however it was not bought til this time bec. some of my rela-
tives who live there has no cash to shell for their part of
the land..any advice sir? Thanks alot m advance…

Hi Eric,

As I noted earlier, please check the type of government land your parents/relatives are occupying. If it is public land (i.e. classified as forest land) and is now zoned as residential by the LGU then it is covered by the new law. Your relatives/parents can apply for free patent for that land subject to area limitatiions (i.e. 200sqm if land is located in HUC, 500sqm for other types of cities; 1-3rd class municipalities =750sqm and 1,000 sqm for all other municipalities). You only need an affidavit from 2 disinterested residents/parties to establish 10 years actual occupancy (meaning you must show that there is a house and that you have been continuously residing/occupying it for the last 10 years). Hopefully this helps. But do remember the DENR is not yet accepting applications because the IRR is still being drafted. Hopefully by May the initial IRR guidelinws will be out already.

ooopss…i forgot to add, yes a free patent is actually a title. You will be issued an original certificate of title (OCT) once you bring the free patent to the register of deeds (RoD).

hi elmer,
im ramon, and i just want to ask if a land that was bought a year ago but the previous owner has been residing there for more than 10 yrs would qualify for a free patent under the new act?

if the previous owner could be established that he has been residing in the property for more than 10 years, then yes, you can qualify by the “predessors-in-interest” provision. this must be established by the submission of an affidavit by two disinterested residents in the same barangay where the property is located/. You would also need a document to show that such sale has been completed, e.g. deed of sale.
You might also want to verify first whether the property is public alienable and disposable land?
these are the basic requirements of the new law. but please wait for the IRR for the complete details of the documentation requirement.

tanx elmer. il reserve my further questions ’til I read the IRR .

Hi Elmer,

We have been occupying a portion of a lot for more than 10 years already but still considered a government property in a highly urbanized city. The area that we are occupying is less than 200 sqms which is portion of the total area which are still unsubidivied among the heirs. The total area was processed under Townsite Sales Application but discontinued due to fear of auction under the old law. May i know if we can apply for the segregation of our lot alone from the total area for separate titling since this is less than 200 sqms. even if the other heirs dont want to? Thank you.

Hi, I am very interested to know when the IRR will be released as I have an untitled lot to be applied for this new law, thanks

Hi to all. The IRR for the RA 10023 -Free patent for residential lands has already been released and published last week. Please see the DENR website (www.denr.gov.ph) for its soft copy. Thanks and cheers!

hi elmer,
i tried to get a soft copy of the IRR at the DENR website but I can’t seem to find it. The link only shows the article regarding the approval of said IRR. any suggestion how I could get hold of a soft copy?

I bought an untitled property 2 years ago from the registered owner who acquired same more than 10 years ago. said property has a house erected thereat by an squatter also occupied the lot for more than 10 years already. Before we take possession of said lot, we made an amicable settlement with that squatter, pay them an amount for their transfer but demolish the house. when we take possession there was no more house up to now but presently I fenced the said lot.

My question sir, under IRR of RA 10023, sec. 3 qualification.

Am I qualified to apply? since the subject lot has no more house inside, but only fence, although it has continous possession of the subject lot from predecessor-in-interest to our present possession.

I bought 222 sqm lot 2 years ago, took possession and fenced subject lot, previous house erected thereat was demolish and at present have not erected house inside. The continuous possession of subject property is more than 10 years from predecessor-in-interest to our present possession.

Under sec. 3.2 qualifications, am I qualified to apply under RA 10023?

[...] would also like to thank Elmer for informing us that the new IRR has been released, thanks Elmer! Elmer is part of the team that [...]

[...] Macapagal-Arroyo last March 9, 2010. Salient features of the Free Patent Act can be found here: Free Patent Act (RA 10023) signed into law. Read the full text of the RA 10023 IRR after the [...]

SIR,

Good Day!

sir, i would like to ask if the Free Patent Certificate can be use as collateral in loan application, like in pag-ibig or any banks or lending Institution.

IRR is silent regarding on this matter. although it was mentioned in salient features of the code.

thaks.

Jovani

@wilfredo tagros—you have to be residing on the property to qualify for the free patent. that’s a basic criteria of the law.

@jovani — the law is silent precisely because there are no restrictions to the patent once it is issued. you can immediately have it registered with the RoD for issuance of an original certificate of title and then transfer it to another person/buyer.

HI Jay,
I bought a lot from Megaworld. They did not put any standby Meralco lines, PLDT lines, and stopped taking care of the landscaping after their lots have all been sold out. They completely ignored all my complaints. Now the guard they posted there started letting thieves inside their place. Nawalan ng motor yung aking contractor. They promised us a gazebo, pool, playground yun pala kami ang magpapagawa nun. I repeatedly emailed MEGAWORLD but even their website is bogus. Sobrang manloloko pala ang MEGAWORLD! I am not telling everyone I know NEVER EVER BUY MEGAWORLD! Super manloloko. Natawa lang sila when I started asking them about the playgroung they promised! The place is in White Plains Terraces!! NEVER BUY MEGAWORLD! Manloloko sila

Thank you Elmer for the heads-up!

Hi Ramon, you can get a softcopy here: http://www.foreclosurephilippines.com/2010/05/free-patent-act-ra-10023-irr.html

Hi Elmer, thanks again for taking time to answer Wilfredo’s and Jovani’s questions.

Hi Theresa, thank you for sharing this with us. Personally I have not yet bought any property from them so I don’t have any first-hand experience to share.

I hope someone from Megaworld can answer this somehow, and maybe someone also from HLURB, etc.

Hi sir Jay,

There is a public land attached to our property and we have been maintaining it for decades (24 years) and continues possession of the said property including the public land. My query is, can we apply for free patent?

@louie paraiso- wat do you mean attached to your property? is this included in your titled property? meaning part of the technical description? I am guessing it is not. what do you mean by maintaining? are you using it as residence (with house/structure of course?) or just vacant land? if you are not actually residing in the property, then you are not qualified. anyway, please first ascertain, what kind of public land is it? you can verify this with your local CENRO. if it is used as agricultural land, you can apply for free patent for agricultural land. if it is located in a zoned residential area ( you will have to establish that you must prove that you have been actually continuously residing in that property for the last 10 years.

Sir Elmer M.

It’s a zoned residential area and not an agricultural area.
What I mean “attached” is that it is actually adjacent to our titled property and what I mean about “maintaining” is that we used and cleaned our titled property including the adjacent public land wherein we already built a canal and a septic tank on the said public land.

Thank you for the previous response.

Hi Elmer M or jay Castillo,

We have a parcel of land in San Fernando City, La Union with OCT registered under the provision of Free Patent Law. The property is properly fenced, taxes updated and with improvements such as fruit-bearing trees and a house. Can the government (DPWH) project just simply encroach on our property without any notice? They said that the government do not have to pay the encroached portion since it was rgistered under free patent. Please comment. Thanks

Furthermore, the property was acquired from a private person who is the occupant of this property even before 1800s. Thus, this is definitely NOT a public domain but an alienable/ disposable land.

Situated in residential area in San Fernando City, La Union. DPWH entered the place without permission or notice, damaged or cut down 15 fruit bearing trees, damaged our fence and left it open to public vandalism. The house inside the property was also vandalized. This was done because of the DPWH project road project.

Are we smelling graft and criminal actions by DPWH? Your comments will be highly appreciated. Thanks

Hi. We bought a free patent ORC sometime in 2001 and it is not yet transfered until now. The OCT is named under the Heirs. We already have the OCT in our possession. Can we transfer this lot to our name? And we are faced by the problem that the vendees are nowhere to be found.

HI ELMER,
I HIRED A LICENSED GEO ENGINEER A FEW WEEKS AGO MY LOT A 400SQ.M AREA WAS SURVEYED,ACCOMPLISHED AFFIDAVIT OF 2 DISINTERESTED PERSONS,BARANGGAY CERTIFICATE AND CURRENTLY WAITING FOR CENRO A&D CERTIFICATION FOR PATENT APPLICATION.WILL THIS BE ENOUGH FOR ME TO ACQUIRE TITLE BY VIRTUE OF RA 10023 OR DO I HAVE TO PAY FIRST THE TEN YEARS REAL ESTATE TAX BEFORE MY APPLICATION WILL BE HONORED?

@philip NC—if the property is already titled, it cannot be just be expropriated by the DPWH without compensating the owner of the property. The DPWH has a power to expropriate but you would have to be paid for the property. You would want to get a lawyer and file a case in court and administrative case against the DPWH.

@regent – if you already have the OCT but have not transferred it, you should be able to transfer it under your name. but you would need a copy of the deed of absolute sale to present to the register of deeds and payments of the necessary taxes, i.e. transfer tax, assessments, etc….these are the standard requirements for the registration/transfer of certificate of titles..a licensed real estate broker should be able to assist you properly on this…

@toybitz —just a clarification, is the property public land that is alienable and disposable??? this could easily be verified by the cenro. if it is then you could have it titled under the new law so long as you also comply with the other requirements which is the property being used as a residence (i.e. house and your or any of your relatives/family residing in the property)….hope all of this helps…

for all others interested, we would be establishing an private office that would help assist people with problems on their properties, specially those applying for patents or planning to perfect their claims on public alienable and disposable land…this would be comprised of public land experts and lawyers who have dealt with this issues as former experts/advisers to the DENR and Land Management Bureau. This office would charge specific fees depending on the extent of the work needed for your property.

I would however, still answer, any queries you may have on your public land claims, through this forum, if jay c and the admin, would still allow me. thanks

Dear Sir Jay and Sir Elmer,

My husband brought their inherited 400 sqm. lot to his Unties and their house are built on this residential lot for more that 30 years His Untie gave us all the real property taxes under her name proved that they are updated in paying the annual tax (Amilyar). We are planning to apply for the TCT under my husband name. Could you please advice us the requirements to be need for this TCT application and guide us as well what are the procedure.

Thank you,

I already have in possesion a free patent title for a lot we bought. Is this considered a “clean and full” title. The free patent title was issues to us Sept.2008 and I want to know if Im going to sell a parcel of the said lot what should I do?

Hello Mr. Elmer M.

I would like to ask for your opinion.

We live in a residential lot about 143sq. meters for already 13 years in a highly urbanize city of Davao.

We are a community for about less than 200 families living in this parcel of land already subdivided.

This is a titled land which has been mortgaged to the bank but was repurchased by the Local City Planning and Development Office of local LGU here in Davao. The title is in the hands now of the Local City Planning Office of Davao. We are paying about P400/month for our lot to the Local City Planning Office for a period of 10 years. Then after 10 years which will end at 2014 thats the only time we can get our Land titles.

My question, instead of waiting for the 2014 to come with this new law R.A. 10023 can we instead avail of this law? Are we Covered by this law?

Thank you.

Hello Mr. Elmer M.

I would like to ask for your opinion.

We live in a residential lot about 143sq. meters for already 13 years in a highly urbanize city of Davao.

We are a community for about less than 200 families living in this parcel of land already subdivided.

This is a titled land which has been mortgaged to the bank but was repurchased by the Local City Planning and Development Office of local LGU here in Davao. The title is in the hands now of the Local City Planning Office of Davao. We are paying about P400/month for our lot to the Local City Planning Office for a period of 10 years. Then after 10 years which will end at 2014 thats the only time we can get our Land titles.

My question, instead of waiting for the 2014 to come with this new law R.A. 10023 can we instead avail of this law? Are we Covered by this law?

Thank you.

hello Jay,

I have a problem & i just want to get an advice for this one we live in an area where im also born & all of my brothers. My father & his parents was there since 1970 let say then now this land been in a case for a long time then now suddenly they claim they won so they are telling us either we pay the land or choose other part in the same area. But this is the main thing they said its free patent & 800/sqm then they said we will only see title of the land after we pay in five years do you think they really have a title of the land because its alot of people already paid portion of money to them & to the lawyer they have. I’m very concern for this people not only for my self & family. This is a big amount of money now.

Hello Elmer,

Is there a holding period before you can sell the residential lot?

Hi sir Elmer and sir Jay,

Thank God we have concerned individuals like you. Please enlighten us on our current case too.

My mother has a titled 300sq. mtr. residential lot way back 2002. The lot has our family house. Our problem is that there are distant relatives living at the back for more than 30 years. If we sell or mortgage our house and lot, what would be their rights? We wanted to get a lawyer for this unfortunately we are not that aware of residential lot laws.

Hope you could enlighten us or direct us to the right agency or people.

Thanks.
Jane

Sir

I don’t know if this letter of mine could reach you…kasi may isang buwan na rin ang nakaraan nung may huling sumulat sa inyo…tanong ko lang kung maari ko narin patitulohan itong lupang kinatitirikan ng bahay ko ng mahigit na rin sampung taon.Nais namin ng anak ko na hatiin sa dalawa itong 270sqm. Trentay sais ang idad ng anak ko at may apat na anak…Dito kami sa barangay commonwealth west side…Salamat naman at hindi sinasadya ay na kita ko ito sa computer R.A 10023…isa ito sa maaaring makatulong sa mga mahihirap na naninirahan sa sariling bansa subalit walang pagkakataon na magkaruon ng sariling lupa…liban lang kung may-kaya ka…

SIR

Maraming pong salamat sa ipagkakaloob nyong kasagutan…napakalaking bagay para sa aking kung mabibigyan po pa ninyo ng linaw ang kalagayan namin dito sa barangay commonwealth west side…Maraming pong salamat

Gumagalang

Antonio joaquin

Sir Jay and Sir Elmer,

Good Day!

Thanks so much for taking the time to put up this website. It is really of great, great comfort that people like you provide information on such an important but very, very confusing process. I truly hope you get to read this inquiry.

My family has been in the process of applying for a land title for the past 6 yrs. and we are gettting frustrated with the system. We have a lawyer ( a distant relative ) who handles the processing but i have a reason to believe that he deliberately gives us ambiguous answers whenever we inquire about the status. Reading thorough this article, I presume that the procedures we undergone for the application of land title is covered by the Public Land Act. The Court has already ordered the preparation or issuance of the land title. Unbeknownst to us, a letter was recently received by our lawyer from the Land Registration Authority inquiring whether our property which is being applied for original registration of title is already covered by the land patent. Our property is in metro manila and is 184 sqm and subdivided into 4 lots. I am thinking of just handling the legwork myself and am wondering what should be the next step? Should we apply for the land patent? Don’t want to depend on our lawyer anymore as i have noticed that he tends to be dishonest and misleads us.

your response will be very much appreciated. Thank you.

@chito…based on your description the property is already titled property bought by the city and being redistributed to you. So the law will not be applicable to you. Although, I think the distribution scheme of the city is already a good one so the best thing is to continue complying with the requirement of the city’s programme.

@madeline…best way is to check the status of the title either through your local cenro and register of deeds. if you have a copy of the so-called patent or title.

@jane sfc…sorry i cannot answer you on this. except verify whether your title is under your family’s name or not. if it is under your family or parents name..then you have every right to dispose of it…the buyer of the lot or bank if ever will be the one’s who have to consider the situation that there are other residents within the property and if they will still want to buy or accept your mortgage with that situation in the property…

@mang antonio….tignan ninyo muna kung ang lupang sinasabi ninyo ay tinatawag na public land??? (pagaari ng gobyerno or lgu)…at kung zoned residential ba ito???..kung ito ay titled property na pagaari ng gobyerno eto ay hindi public land kungdi patrimonial or lgu titled private property at hindi kasama sa RA10023…may iba pong batas na sasakop dito para maipamigay o mapatitulohan…

@debbie…if a court has ordered that the land be titled to you then what you need to do is follow it up with the register of deeds (RoD) for the issuance of the title…what you did is called judicial issuance of title…get a certified copy of the court decision ordering the titling of the property under your name and bring it to the RoD for issuance of title…if the court has issued an order for titling, then you dont have to apply for the free patent under RA 10023 because the court has already issued the title to you…

Hi Elmer,

Again, thank you so much for taking time to answer the questions being posted here with regards to the free patent act. On behalf of all the people you are helping, we just want to let you know that we really appreciate what you are doing and will always be grateful to you. Thanks again and may your tribe increase! God Bless you!

best regards,
Jay Castillo

Sir Elmer,

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. May God bless you!

Debie

good morning sir jay, sir elmer,

gusto ko lang po malinawan nais po kase namin na pagawan ng titulo yung lupa namin kaya lang po namatay na po yung tatay ko eh yung documento pong nagawa lang eh deed of waiver of rights na katunayan na binibigay na nya skin yung lupa. yung oha po pati sa kanya rin pinangalan ng assessor kase pangalan daw po nya yung nakalagay sa cadastro. posible pa po bang magawan ng titulo?

Hi Sir Jay, Sir Elmer,

Need your help on this.
My husband and I are planning to buy a residential lot at Taguig amounting to 4000 per sq meter. The land is a huge property and was subdivided by the owner. The agent told us that the land we will be buying has a “mother title” and that we can apply for our own title once the whole land has already been sold.

Is this legal? Is it true that we can apply for our own TCT once we fully paid our lot with reference to the mother title?

How can we check if the mother title number truly exists?

Hoping for your soonest reply.

Regards.

gud day jay…

gusto po ng tatay at nanay ko na ibinta ang lupa nila na mya titulo na free patent…na release yung titilo sa aug. 14 2009 paano namin ma ibinta ang lupa? bda 5yrs after pa apra mai binta ang lupa na free patent ang titulo?
sa anong paraan ma ibinta ang lupa nila…matanda na kasi cla gusto nila ma enjoy yung pinaghirapan nila…