THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources on Tuesday said special patents for over 3,000 public schools nationwide have been issued for the title of their sites.
Secretary Roy Cimatu said the effort is a joint undertaking with the Department of Education.
As of December 2017, the agency was able to transmit for registration with various registers of deeds a total of 3,467 approved patents for public schools across 16 regions.
“This is a big accomplishment in land management and the public school system. It only shows the DENR, particularly the Land Management Bureau, is actively working to secure public school sites where the education of the future generation of this country rests,” Cimatu said.
DENR Region 2 has the most number of special patents approved and transmitted at 450, followed by Region 10 with 434 patents and Region 1 with 343.
The total number of approved special patents represented the accomplishments of three memoranda of agreement entered into between the DENR and DepEd in 2007, 2010 and 2013 for the survey and titling of public elementary and secondary schools exclusively used for educational purposes through the issuance of special titles and presidential proclamations.
“Education is a basic right of every Filipino. The DENR will continue to pursue efforts to award land ownership to public schools so that these learning institutions are secured from ejection in the land they have occupied for decades,” the DENR chief said.
The sites identified by the Education department have been occupied continuously by the schools for decades and have been transferred through deeds of donation.
A special patent is issued to grant, cede and convey in full ownership alienable and disposable lands owned by the government upon the declaration of a special law, act of Congress or a proclamation by the President authorizing the DENR secretary to issue such patent.