Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

Nineteenth Congress
First Regular Session

1182

House Bill No.

Introduced by Representative JOEY SARTE SALCEDA.

AN ACT
TO ESTABLISH THE FOREST CADASTRE,
PROVIDING FOR ITS PROCEDURES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Philippines has a total land area of 30 million hectares (ha). Of which. 14.2 million
ha are classified as alienable and disposable lands (A&D) while 15.8 million ha are forest lands.
Formal recording and public access on information on lands through a cadastre is limited only
to the A&D lands while the forest lands are not part of such system. Information on forest lands
is not formally recorded in a public registry making it hardly accessible. Tenurial instruments
and other forms of agreements or contracts in forest lands are neither registered. systematically
surveyed, nor parcelized. Tenurial instruments and resource access contracts are difficult to

ify and are subject to unnecessary verification and vettings.

A critical factor in the success of sustainable forest management in the Philippines is a
well-defined and secured rights. The forest cadastre as aims to establish an appropriate
administration system for forest lands for formally delineating and recording rights. land
suitable land uses, and other land-related information. This will guarantee the right and
security of tenure. provide security for credit, reduce land disputes, and ensure protection and
sustainable management of forest lands and the resources therein. It shall also facilitate and
accelerate the settlement of claims and conflicts and provide economic data relevant to
planning and development in forest lands.

The purpose of this Act is to strengthen tenure security and rights in forest lands by
establishing a forest cadastre that would be integrated into the existing national land cadastre
system. This is expected to contribute to the government's goal of effective. efficient. and
sustainable management of forest lands.

In view of the foregoing. the approval of this bi#% urgently sought.

SARTE SALCEDA

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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

Nineteenth Congress
First Regular Session

1162

House Bill No.

Introduced by Representative JOEY SARTE SALCEDA

AN ACT
TO ESTABLISH THE FOREST CADASTRE,
PROVIDING FOR ITS PROCEDURES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the “Forest Land Cadastral Act.”

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. Itis the policy of the State to preserve, conserve and
sustainably develop and manage the country’s forest lands to contribute to the development of
the national wealth and to provide the current needs of the country as well as that of future
generations. itis also the declared policy of the State to create a complete cadastral system that
includes all classifications of lands and the tenures or titles issued thereat.

SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. — As used in this Act:

(a) Agricultural lands ~ refer to alienable and disposable lands of the public domain
which have been the subject of the land classification system and declared as not needed for
forest purposes.

(b) Ancestral domain ~ refers to all areas generally belonging to indigenous cultural
communities (ICCs) and/or indigenous peoples (IPs) comprising lands. inland waters. coastal
areas, and natural resources therein, held under a claim of ownership, occupied or possessed
by ICCs/IPs. by themselves or through their ancestors. communally or individually since time
immemorial. continuously to the present except when interrupted by war, force majeure or
displacement by force, deceit, stealth or as a consequence of government projects or any other
voluntary dealings entered into by government and private individuals/corporations. and which
are necessary to ensure their economic. social and cultural welfare. It shall include ancestral
lands. forests, pasture. residential, agricultural. and other lands individually owned whether
alienable and disposable or otherwise, hunting grounds. burial grounds. worship areas, bodies
of water. mineral and other natural resources, and lands which may no longer be exclusively
occupied by ICCs/IPs but from which they traditionally had access to for their subsistence and
waditional activities. particularly the home ranges of ICCs/IPs who are still nomadic and/or

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shifting cultivators.

(c) Ancestral lands = refer to land occupied. possessed and utilized by individuals.
families and clans who are members of the ICCs/IPs since time immemorial. by themselves or
through their predecessors-in-interest, under claims of individual or traditional group
ownership. continuously. to the present except when interrupted by war, force majeure or
displacement by force, deceit, stealth. or as a consequence of government projects and other
voluntary dealings entered into by government and private individuals/corporations. including.
but not limited to, residential lots. rice terraces or paddies. private forests, swidden farms and
tree lots.

(d) Delineation ~ refers to the conduct of site investigation, field reconnaissance and
assessment. and staking of boundaries among forest lands. national parks/protected areas.
mineral lands and agricultural lands verified in the field in accordance with the criteria set forth
under the existing rules and regulations of the DENR.

(e) Forest block — is an area of contiguous forest land measuring fifieen (15) seconds
of latitude and fifteen (15) seconds of longitude at approximately 20.7 hectares per block.

( Forest cadastre ~ is a registry containing official, legal documentation concerning
the quantity, dimension, location, value, existing tenure, and other information unique for the
forest land parcel.

(g) Forest compartment ~ is the basic territorial unit of measurement permanently
defined for the purpose of location, description, and record, and as a basis for forest
management.

(h) Forest land = includes the public forest, the permanent forest or forest reserves.
forest reservations, and all other lands not classified as agricultural lands. mineral lands. and
national parks.

(i) Mineral land — means any area where mineral resources are found.

@ National park = refers to a forest reservation essentially of natural wilderness
character which has been withdrawn from settlement, occupancy or any form of exploit
except in conformity with approved management plan and set aside as such exclusively to
conserve the area or preserve the scenery. the natural and historic objects. wild animals and
plants therein and to provide enjoyment of these features in such areas.

(k) Protected area~ refers to identified portions of land and/or water set aside by reason
of their unique physical and biological significance. managed to enhance biological diversity
and protected against destructive human exploitation.

SEC. 4. Forest Land Delineation. ~ The delineation of forest lands as completed by’ the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and submitted to Congress is
hereby adopted. Provided that all vested rights prior to delineation within forest lands are
recognized. Forest lands categorized as public forest lands shall not be reclassified. except
through an Act of Congress.

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SEC. 5. Establishment of the Forest Cadastre. - The DENR shall develop, install,
maintain and update regularly a system of mapping of all forest tenurial instruments and
agreements issued by the DENR in all forest lands.

Such system shall reflect all existing tenure agreements and shall show graphically said
tenures. Untenured forest lands shall also be reflected and shown graphically in order to
complete tenure mapping of entire municipalities and cities. An inventory of all tenure
instruments shall be kept in the system.

SEC. 6. Identification of Forest Blocks and Compartments. - The DENR shall divide
the identified forest lands, protected area and national parks. and mineral lands into forest
blocks for a more efficient resource management. The size of forest compartments shall be
determined by the DENR.

SEC. 7. National Parks and Protected Areas. — All protected areas and national parks
in non-agricultural or inalienable lands shall be included in the cadastre. Existing surveys
covering areas under the National Integrated Protected Area Systems (NIPAS) Act of 1992 and
‘the Expanded National Integrated Protected Area Systems Act of 2017 shall be included in the
cadastre.

SEC. 8. Mineral Lands. - All mineral lands in non-agricultural or inalienable lands
shall be included in the cadastre. Existing surveys covering areas under the People's Small-
scale Mining Act of 1991 and the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 shall be included in the
cadastre.

SEC. 9. Proclamations and Reservations. — All existing proclamations and reservations
within forest lands that are not included in the NIPAS Act of 1992, E-NIPAS Act of 2017.
People's Small-scale Mining Act of 1991, and the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 shall be
included in the cadastre.

SEC. 10. Ancestral Domains and Ancestral Lands. ~ All surveys covering areas under
the Indigenous People’s Rights Act of 1997 shall be included in the forest cadastre and shall
be reflected in the maps. For this purpose. the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples
(NCIP) is required to submit all of its delineation surveys to the DENR for inclusion in the
cadastre. including those that will be approved by the NCIP subsequent to this Act.

SEC. 11. Persons Authorized to Conduct Forest Land Surveys.— Duly licensed geodetic
engineers who are in the service of the DENR. employed or contracted out. or any other
authorized geodetic engineers may undertake the survey of forest lands, subject to the
administrative direction, control, and supervision of the DENR.

SEC. 12. Authority 10 Conduct Forest Land Surveys. ~ The DENR may order the
geodetic engineers employed by the Department or contract out to duly licensed geodetic
engineers to conduct forest land surveys.

SEC. 13. Entry on Forest Lands. — It shall be lawful for duly licensed geodetic engineers
and other employees of the DENR to enter forest lands whenever necessary for the surveying
and establishment of monuments.

It shall be the duty of every tenure holder or every person claiming an interest in the

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forest land to be surveyed to communicate to the DENR all information possessed by such
person conceming the boundary lines of the particular portion of the forest land.

SEC. 14, Interference with Surveys and Monuments. ~ Any person who shall interfere
with the conduct of surveys pursuant to this law, or deface, destroy, remove or otherwise alter
established survey monuments shall be penalized with a fine of not less than one hundred
thousand pesos (P 100,000.00) but not more than five hundred thousand pesos (P500.000.00),
or imprisonment of not less than six (6) months but not exceeding six (6) years, or both. at the
discretion of the court.

SEC. 15. Approval of Forest Land Cadastral Surveys. — Submission of survey plans
shall be made to the unit in charge of surveys at the regional office of the DENR. Such
submission shall be subject to the process of inspection, verification and approval of surveys,
and shall be projected in the same projection map used for alienable and disposable lands.

SEC. 16, Integration Into Existing Cadastral System. — Approved surveys and all other
accompanying information on forest lands shall be integrated into the existing cadastral system.
Itshall include maps and other information necessary to identify the parcel as well as the tenure
or interest associated with it.

SEC. 17. Access To Forest Land Information. ~ The DENR shall share and provide
access to all available forest land information to other government agencies. local government
units, and the transacting public for the efficient management and sustainable utilization of
forest lands and the resources therein. Cadastral information may also be shared to banks and
other non-bank financial institutions for the purpose of providing access to credit and other
financial services and facilities subject to existing data privacy rules and regulations.

SEC. 18. Integrity of Forest Land Information. ~ The DENR shall ensure the integrity
of forest land information through continuous updating of data. system maintenance, and
cleansing of forest land records of inconsistencies, duplications, errors and fraud. Budget shall
be allocated annually for this purpose.

SEC. 19. Security of Forest Land Information. ~ At all DENR sites. there will be
appropriate security arrangements on access to the network and database. anti-virus protection.
on-site and off-site backup of databases. and other related system administration arrangements.
All systems will include an audit trail of persons who made changes to the key data in the
database.

SEC. 20. Funding. — Initial funds shall be sourced from savings of the DENR for the
current year and thereafter shall be included yearly in the General Appropriations Act.

SEC. 21. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The DENR shall promulgate rules
and regulations to carry out the provisions of this Act within 120 days from approval hereof.

SEC. 22. Repealing Clause. — All laws, decrees, executive order, executive issuances

or letters of instruction. rules and regulations or any part thereof inconsistent to the provisions
of this Act are hereby deemed repealed. amended or modified accordingly.

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SEC. 23. Separability Clause. ~ If, for any reason or reasons, any part or parts of this
‘Act shall be declared unconstitutional or invalid by any competent court, other parts of this Act
not so declared shall continue to be in full force and effect.

SEC. 24. Effectivity Clause. This Act shall take effect fifteen days (15) afier its
publication in two (2) newspapers of general education,

Approved.

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