By Paulo Loreto Lim

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Gina Lopez yesterday proposed numerous reforms for the agency, including measures surrounding land titles.
One of the reforms includes allowing barangay offices to accept public land titling applications, along with supplying them with cadastral maps, which show the value and ownership of properties within a given area.
Public land titling is typically handled by the Land Management Bureau (LMB), a division of the DENR.
Lopez believes the practice will make titling services more accessible and transparent.
Title holders will also be able to coordinate with government offices on land development, tax payment, and land preservation as it pertains to climate change.
The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) will also be tasked with revising emission standards, or the limits on pollutants released into the environment. The DENR secretary said the measure will promote a cleaner and healthier environment.
The reform seeks to lower emissions from 1,500 milligrams per normal cubic meter (mg/Ncm) to 400mg/Ncm.
Lopez said the management of protected areas will also be looked at in terms of financial sustainability. She discussed special use agreement protected areas, or SAPAs, where development fees will be assessed, along with a fee associated with the SAPA application itself.
The DENR secretary explained funds from SAPA will be held in an Integrated Protected Areas Fund, which will be used to supplement management and operations expenses, allowing the national government to reduce its subsidy to the department.
Lopez is also looking to create a Philippine Forest Certification System (PFCS), which will work to ensure all wood products are acquired legally and from sustainably-managed forests.
Recently, the Negros Occidental Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) filed a criminal case against Rolando Oyco of Don Salvador Benedicto, in violation of RA 7586, or the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act of 1992. According to a PENRO press release, officials caught Oyco in the act of attending to a charcoal pit, after finding several trees in the area were cut down. They also found he was operating without a permit.
The Forest Management Bureau (FMB) is also seeking to streamline wood processing plant permits by extending their validity from three to five years./WDJ