ANGELES CITY – Pampanga 1st District Rep. Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin, Jr., on Oct. 5 filed House Resolution No. 1489, requesting the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to strictly ensure that legal easements along the seas, rivers, lakes, esteros, and creeks are protected and to refrain from issuing favorable certifications for free-patent applications where technical and legal verification establishes that the land applied for, or any portion thereof, forms part of a legal easement.
“Considering the heightened risks of flooding caused by the monsoon and typhoon season, and the important role of maintaining waterways to mitigate said risks, it is now crucial for the government to take necessary steps to protect these waterways from further encroachment,” Lazatin said.
Under RA 10023 (Residential Free Patent Act), a qualified Filipino citizen who is an actual occupant of a residential land may apply for a free patent title from the DENR.
Through HR No. 1489, Lazatin is requesting that the DENR refrain from issuing such free patents for land that may be part of a legal easement along bodies of water since this has the potential to disrupt waterways.
Lazatin’s resolution comes in the wake of the massive flooding experienced in Pampanga in August, due to the heavy rainfall caused by the typhoons coinciding with the southwest monsoon or habagat.
Satellite data from the Philippine Space Agency showed the extent of flooding in the recent habagat season, covering portions of Regions I, II, III, IV-A, IV-B, Cordillera Administrative Region, and the National Capital Region.
Pampanga, which was heavily affected, is home to an extensive network of rivers, tributaries, creeks, esteros, drainage channels, and low-lying floodplain areas. Team Lazatin Media
