DENR CENRO Lipa successfully resolved a Land Dispute Case through Alternative Dispute Resolution

DENR CENRO Lipa City is speeding-up the resolutions of land disputes through conflict resolution process minus the tedious process of administrative hearing or court litigation. A formal and verified protest by the Local Government Unit of Barangay Majuben in Mabini, Batangas against a public land application with allegation that portion of property being claimed includes the parcel of land where the barangay hall stands was resolved by this Office on October 25, 2021 through an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). After a series of ADR sessions, CENR Officer and ADR Officer Allan Willard Estillore successfully mediated the case and amicably settled through a Compromise Agreement signed by both parties and approved by the PENR Officer of Batangas Noel M. Recillo through an Order Based on the Compromise Agreement.

 

Most of the land cases filed are now handled by the DENR Alternative Dispute Resolution Officers (ADRO) who were accredited after a rigorous training and examination. Mediation through the ADR has rebuilt relationships that were destroyed by land disputes, especially involving family and friends. The ADR became operational in December 2016 with the issuance of DENR Administrative Order 2016-30 calling for the establishment of mechanisms and tools for ADR in the disposition of land claims and conflicts, the organization of a pool of ADRO, and the creation of a committee and secretariat tasked to implement the ADR process.

 

The activity strengthened rapport between the DENR and its stakeholders on the efficient and effective administration, surveys, management and disposition of alienable and disposable lands of the public domain and other lands outside the responsibilities of other government agencies. Moreover, health and safety measures against COVID-19 were properly observed and practiced during the ADR proceedings.###