President Marcos ordered the formation of an inter-agency coordinating council aimed at consolidating a comprehensive master list of state-owned properties to optimize the utilization of government-owned lands.
“To ensure the efficient and effective allocation and utilization of land resources for the country’s national development goals, it is necessary to consolidate a comprehensive list of all government lands,” President Marcos said in Administrative Order No. 21.
AO No. 21, signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on April 30, delineates President Marcos’s vision, emphasizing a key strategy within the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 focused on fostering livable communities through the establishment of a centralized database encompassing all idle government lands.
The move, hailed by President Marcos as a significant stride towards advancing the objectives outlined in the PDP 2023-2028, underscores the administration’s commitment to strategic land management.
Heading the Coordinating Council are the co-chairpersons from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), with the Department of Agriculture (DA) serving as the vice chair.
Serving as members are key government agencies, including the Office of the Executive Secretary, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), Department of Justice (DOJ), Land Registration Authority (LRA), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and the Department of Information and Communications (DICT).
The Coordinating Council is poised to spearhead this landmark initiative. The DENR-Land Management Bureau (LMB) has been designated as the Secretariat of the Coordinating Council, charged with facilitating seamless coordination among member agencies.
The order is slated to take effect immediately upon its publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation.