NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
First Regular Session 
)
S.B. No.
SENATE
413
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72 JUL 12 P4S3
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Introduced by SENATOR IMEE R. MARCOS
AN ACT
TO ESTABLISH THE FOREST CADASTRE, PROVIDING FOR ITS 
PROCEDURES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Section 16, Article II of the 1987 Constitution provides that, "the State shall 
protect and advance the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology in 
accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature."
The Philippines has a total land area of 30 million hectares, of which 14.2 million 
hectares are classified as alienable and disposable lands while 15.8 million hectares 
are classified as forest lands. Formal recording and public access on information on 
lands through a cadastre Is limited only to the alienable and disposable lands. 
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, making 
them difficult to verify and subject to unnecessary vetting.
A critical factor in the success of sustainable forest management In the 
Philippines is well-defined and secured property rights. The forest cadastre aims to 
establish an appropriate administration system for forest lands to formally delineate 
and recording rights, land values, suitable land use, 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 bill is earnestly sought.
IMEE R. MARCOS


NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
First Regular Session 
)
S.B. No.
SENATE
413
■22 JUL 12 P4 S3
Introduced by SENATOR IMEE R. MARCOS
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AN ACT
TO ESTABLISH THE FOREST CADASTRE, PROVIDING FOR ITS 
PROCEDURES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Be it enacted by the Senate and 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. - It is 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. Further, it is 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. - The following shall be defined in this Act, as
follows:
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


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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 traditional activities, particularly the home ranges of 
ICCs/IPs who are still nomadic and/or 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 paddles, 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 fifteen (15) 
seconds of latitude and fifteen (15) seconds of longitude at approximately 
20.7 hectares per block.
f) 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.
j) National Park - refers to a forest reservation essentially of natural 
wilderness character which has been withdrawn from settlement, 
occupancy or any form of exploitation 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


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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 (DEiMR) 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.
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 the tenure mapping of municipalities and cities. 
Provided that, 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 areas, 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 R.A. No. 7586 otherwise known as the National 
Integrated Protected Area Systems (NIPAS) Act of 1992' and the R.A. No. 11038 
otherwise known as the "Expanded National Integrated Protected Area Systems Act 
of 201/' 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 R.A. No. 
7076 otherwise known as thePeople's Small-scale Mining Act of 1991" and R.A. No. 
7942 otherwise known as the '^Philippine Mining Act of 199S' 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


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under the R.A. No. 8371 otherwise known as the 'Indigenous People's Rights Act of 
iPPZ"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 to 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 forest land to be surveyed to communicate to the DENR all information 
possessed by such person concerning 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 Act, or deface, destroy, remove 
or otherwise alter established survey monuments shall be penalized with a fine of not 
less than one hundred thousand pesos (Php 100,000.00) but not more than five 
hundred thousand pesos (Php 500,000.00), 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. It shall include maps and other information necessary to identify the 
parcel, as well as, the tenure or interest associated with it.


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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 public for the efficient management and sustainable 
utilization of forest lands and 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.
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. Appropriation. - The amount needed for the implementation of this 
Act shall be Included in the General Appropriations Act (GAA).
SEC. 21. Impiementing Ruies and Reguiations. - Within ninety (90) days, the 
DENR shall issue the necessary ruies and regulations for the effective implementation
of this Act.
SEC. 22. Repeaiing Cause. - 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.
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) after 
Its publication in two (2) newspapers of general education.
Approved,