Officers of Land Registration System (LARES) personally turned over to Mayor Quiambao on August 30 the output of the land title database project they had been working on for a month. Their work comprised of seven hard copies of a comprehensive list of titled lands in Bayambang based on data gathered from the Land Registration Authority’s Registry of Deeds, plus soft copies (two CDs) comprising of Excel file versions of the list together with a digitalized parcellary map of Bayambang. Details of all the titled lands in Bayambang can be accessed in full detail using this set of information.

Headed by Andres Balanza, the turnover was also attended by Assessors Office head Annie de Leon, ICT officer Jezreel John Junio, a representative from Municipal Planning and Development Council, and their respective staff.

Uploaded to a computer, the soft copies of the land title data can be searched and sorted by surname, barangay, and other categories. All the helpful information can be accessed from the database, including title number, title type, owner’s name, owner’s address, plan number, block number, length, area, shape, and name of owner’s spouse. The digitalized compilation is password-protected.

A demonstration of how it works was briefly conducted.  For the parcellary map to be really helpful, Balanza explained, it has to be overlaid on a GoogleEarth map uploaded and saved to the computer.

The database can be searched for various purposes, said Balanza. It eases land assessors’ work by showing who the latest owners of the land are and how large a land is. Given this information, improvement in tax collection can be more easily realized, he said.

The map can also help determine whether an improvement on a given property has been done. It will also come in handy while planning for road-widening projects, as the digitalized information can easily show which owners would be affected and how much area exactly would get in the way. The map may also be prove to be helpful in the issuance of building permits.

One can input new data and photos based on existing content. A digital ruler can be used to measure the extent of property in question. All in all, Balanza said, the database is user-friendly.

The product demonstration was soon followed by a training proper for all concerned heads and staff present.

(PIO/Media Affairs. Photo by PIO/Media Affairs)