Upgrading the Land Administration System of the Philippines through ICT: A Review of the Land Titling Computerization Program

Jovito Jose Katigbak

doi:10.29379/jedem.v11i1.540

Jovito Jose Katigbak

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.29379/jedem.v11i1.540

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Abstract

An effective and efficient land administration system is vital in pursuing national and local development as it ensures security of land tenure, enables citizens to utilize their land, and fosters a peaceful and stable environment. In the Philippines, the Land Registration Authority (LRA) demonstrated its commitment to adopt e-government by launching the Land Titling Computerization Project (LTCP) in 2008. Despite this major stride, the viability of the LTCP was put to the test due to a couple of challenges. Thus, this research attempts to describe the opportunities and challenges faced by the LTCP. It uses a descriptive-exploratory method as it identifies the depth of e-government development in the Philippines with a specific focus on the LTCP. The study finds that the LTCP is currently in the enhanced information services (stage 2) level based on the UN Online Service Index and basic gaps must be addressed via necessary improvements.

Highlights

An effective and efficient land administration system is a vital element in pursuing national and local development as it ensures security of land tenure, enables citizens to utilise their land and maximize the perceived benefits, and fosters a peaceful and stable environment
The strong call for a new type of development approach was answered by the emergence of New Public Management (NPM) into the mainstream, which promotes the principles of decentralisation, participation, efficiency, transparency, and ‘citizens as customers.’
E-government can be regarded as one of the innovations brought by NPM, as it enables governments to provide better public services to its citizens and to foster e-governance in the process

Summary

Introduction

An effective and efficient land administration system is a vital element in pursuing national and local development as it ensures security of land tenure, enables citizens to utilise their land and maximize the perceived benefits, and fosters a peaceful and stable environment. In the Philippines, the Land Registration Authority (LRA), the agency mandated to implement and protect the Torrens land system of the country, demonstrated its willingness and commitment to adopt e-government by launching the Land Titling Computerization Project (LTCP) in 2008. The LTCP prompted the LRA to computerise all its records and offices nationwide as well as allow the agency to present and deliver electronic services. The cited effort has enabled the LRA to network with other government agencies including the the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, and local government units (Ortile, 2015). Citizens can expect new services such as the Lot Location Service (LLS), the Title Transaction Alert (TTA), and the Title Trace Back (TTB) (LRA Website, not dated)

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