(Eagle News)–President Bongbong Marcos has ordered the creation of an inter-agency coordinating council that will consolidate all the lands owned by the state in a “master list.”
“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 issuing Administrative Order No. 21.
He added the move will also boost the administration’s Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028, one of the key strategies of which is to establish liveable communities.
According to the order, the coordinating council shall be composed of the heads of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) as co-chairpersons.
Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture (DA) will serve as vice chair.
Members of the Coordinating Council, meanwhile, are the Office of the Executive Secretary; the DA; the Department of the 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 DENR-Land Management Bureau (LMB) will serve as the Secretariat of the Coordinating Council.
AO 21 shall take effect immediately upon its publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation, the government said.