LRA backs bill minimizing court role in updating, cancelling titles, records

THE Land Registration Authority (LRA) said on Wednesday that it asked the Senate to ensure that a bill seeking to extend the land lease limit to 99 years for foreign investors to do away with the need to go to court in updating lease records.

At a Senate Justice and Human Rights committee hearing looking into Senate Bill No. 2717, which seeks to extend the lease of private land, not including agricultural land, to 99 years from 75, LRA acting Legal Division head Salvalente Thaddeus B. Elizalde asked the panel to give the Registry of Deeds (RD) the authority to automatically cancel lease annotations after 99 years to spare heirs the need to go to court.

He also asked legislators to give the RD the power to automatically cancel lease records in the event of “default” or failure to comply with the lease terms.

The Senate bill, which cited the need for foreign investors to enjoy longer leases, is classified as a priority measure by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.

Under the measure, which Senate President Francis G. Escudero filed in July, investors may also sublease a leasehold interest on a property, subject to the provisions of the original contract.

Sublease contracts with a term of less than 25 years are exempt from mandatory registration with the RD, but may be voluntarily registered for legal protection and public notice, based on the bill.

“The efforts of the government and the private sector, however, are stymied by a number of factors — among them is the unsecured property and leasehold rights that may not legally bind third parties due to lack of registrability and indefeasibility,” Mr. Escudero said in the bill’s explanatory note.

“Attracting foreign investors has been a long-standing priority of the government, spanning several administrations.” — John Victor D. Ordoñez