Section 3Sec./Art. 3

Section 45 of Commonwealth Act No. 141, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

SEC. 45. All applications for agricultural free patents shall be filed before the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). For provinces with no CENRO, the application shall be filed with the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO).

The CENRO or the PENRO, as the case may be, is mandated to process the application within one hundred and twenty (120) days from filing, including compliance with the required notices and other legal requirements. The CENRO shall thereafter forward its recommendation to the PENRO if the area of the land is below five (5) hectares; to the DENR Regional Director if the area of the land is at least five (5) up to ten (10) hectares; and to the Secretary of the DENR if the area of the land is more than (10) up to twelve (12) hectares.

Upon receipt of the recommendation from the CENRO, or upon the completion of the processing of the application within the reglementary period, the PENRO, DENR Regional Director, or the Secretary of the DENR, as the case may be, shall approve or disapprove the application for agricultural free patent within five (5) days. In case of approval, the agricultural free patent shall forthwith be issued.

In case of conflicting claims among different claimants, the parties may seek the proper administrative and judicial remedies.