The Rapid Land Tenure Appraisal (RLTA), as defined by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) - Land Management Bureau (LMB) Technical Bulletin No. 1 series of 2018, is the process to obtain a clear picture of the land tenure situation on the ground before land titling operations are entered into the area.

Land tenure is dynamic (i.e. transfers from original land claimant to buyers or heirs) and the cadastral maps used by the regions in determining the remaining targets do not reflect these changes on the ground. With the RLTA, it aims to provide an accurate inventory of all the remaining untitled lands down to the barangay level.

Thus, the DENR 6 led by Regional Executive Director Livino B. Duran inked a Memorandum of Partnership Agreement (MOPA) in the preparation of the conduct of RLTA together with the three Local Government Unit (LGU) in the province of Aklan namely; Municipality of Banga represented by Mayor Noel L. Redison, Municipality of Balete under Mayor Dexter M. Calizo represented by Vice Mayor Patrick F. Lachica, and Municipality of Buruanga under Concepcion D. Labindao represented by Vice Mayor Femy C. Dumaguin. The signing was done last August 04, 2023 at the JRP Vanyard Hotel, Kalibo, Aklan.

The MOPA signed stated that the DENR 6 through its Provincial ENR Office Aklan will conduct and supervise land titling, assist/facilitate in the conduct of Simultaneous Survey and Adjudication Approach during the execution of the survey and land titling activities including preparation of cadastral index map, land tenure profile and related social development activities, while the LGUs will provide necessary documents and records in accordance with existing policies and regulations needed by the validation team.

This will cover the different barangays of the said municipalities, to wit; Banga with thirty (30) barangays, Balete with ten (10) barangays, and Buruanga with fifteen (15) barangays. During the project implementation the Provincial ENR Office of Aklan will hire enumerators assigned to the three municipalities.

“RLTA is basically an updating of tenure profile of the titled or untitled lots. This is also considered as the cleansing mechanism of the DENR to see if the given lands are still available or have pending cases,” RED Duran emphasized.

“The very importance of this activity with the help and coordination of the LGUs is to resolve conflict in land claims and have a smoother Handog Titulo Program,” he added. 

Prior to the signing a brief explanation of what is RLTA was given by the Licenses, Patents and Deeds Division (LPDD) Chief, Atty. Elizur G. Militar, and Regional Focal Person on RLTA/LMO II Sonia L. Gimotea. Together with the RED were Aklan PENRO Merlene B. Aborka, Regional Strategic Communication and Initiatives Group (RSCIG) Chief Artemio Salvador C. Colacion and PENRO Aklan personnel.