Page 14 - Property Rights in the Philippine A Time and Cost Study_July 2017

ROD employees draw up an Original Certificate of Title. This, together with the Residential Free
Patent, is signed by the Registrar. A Title Number is then assigned.

The Free Patent is scanned by ROD staff before it is issued to the applicant. They email the image
file to the Land Registration Authority (LRA) head office. LRA requires that all cases of subdivision and
consolidation of titles (resulting in the issuance of individual titles for each subdivided/consolidated lot) have
to be endorsed to the LRA so that they can enter the data to their computerized system. A team of
examiners encodes the survey data of the parcel and plots it on a national index map of registered titles.
This process used to occur before registration and was a major cause of delay. It also opened the
opportunity for “Express Lane” services (with corresponding unofficial fee). Since this is now done after
registration, it is no longer a cause of delay. There is also no more need for anyone to ask for “Express
Lane” services.

Issuance of registered free patents (Agricultural or Residential) can take a long time. The Cebu
Province Register of Deeds estimates there are 8,000 registered free patents still unclaimed in their office,
while some 25,000 registered free patents are currently stocked in the Bohol Province Register of Deeds.
The reason for this, aside from non-payment of taxes, is that many lot applicants do not know that their free
patents have already been registered and ready for pick-up.

Delays:
1. The first delay occurs when the ROD waits for the applicant to show up and comply with registration
requirements. This delay happens because there is no Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in the
PENRO for informing the applicant that his/her Free Patent is now with the ROD.
2. Securing a clearance for property tax payments and a Tax Declaration in the name of the applicant
requires a trip to the Municipal or City Hall. If real property tax payments are not up-to-date, as they
often are, further delay is incurred while the applicant produces funds for payment.
3. A Tax Declaration in the applicant’s name can take more time when the current Tax Declaration holds
the name of former claimants. Most Assessors require a copy of the Free Patent issued by the PENRO.
The applicant thus has to make one more trip, to the PENRO this time.
4. The final delay happens while the ROD waits for the applicant to pick up her registered free patent.

Costs:
1. The registration fee for Residential Free Patents is usually around PhP 50.00. The ICT Fee costs about
PhP 1,950.00.
2. Arrears and penalties for real property tax payments, if there are any, will be collected by the local
Treasurer before the RPT Clearance is issued. Local governments are allowed to collect unpaid real
property taxes for up to 10 years in the past.

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