WHEREAS, Republic Act (RA) No. 7279 or the œUrban Development and Housing Act of 1992,  directs the local government units to conduct an inventory of lands and the concerned government agencies to identify sites for socialized housing;

WHEREAS, despite the explicit task given to local government units and government agencies, constraints on land identification for the purpose of socialized housing still occur; and

WHEREAS, the Philippine Congress, through the Joint Committee of the House of Representatives Committee on Housing and Urban Development and the Senate Committee on Urban Planning and Shelter and Resettlement, has initiated a multi-sectoral National Summit on Housing and Urban Development ( œSummit ) to identify immediate solutions to the increasing number of informal settlers in urban centers, and to ensure the availability of lands for socialized housing, the Joint Committee resolved to come up with an inventory of lands.

NOW, THEREFORE, the following are hereby ordered:

SECTION 1. Inventory of Lands. All National Government agencies and instrumentalities, including government-owned or -controlled corporations, are hereby directed to submit to the Inter-Agency Task Force created under Section 3 hereof, an inventory of their idle lands and provide information as to the purpose for which it has been reserved, and its status.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), through the local government units (LGUs), shall conduct an inventory of government-owned idle lands in urban centers in their respective territories.

For this purpose, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Land Registration Authority (LRA) shall make available its land records, such as but not limited to approved subdivision plans and surveys, cadastral maps, title information and abstracts of registry, to the DILG and LGUs, subject to such limitations as may be provided by law, rules and regulations.

SECTION 2.Government Idle Lands. For the purposes of the inventory, government idle lands shall be categorized into the following:

1. Lands owned by any government entity that have been idle and have not been used for the purpose for which they have been reserved for the past 10 years;

2. Lands with existing structures and owned by any government entity but can be set aside for socialized housing; and

3. Lands owned by any government entity currently inhabited by informal settler families.

SECTION 3. Creation of an Inter-Agency Task Force. There is hereby created an Inter-Agency Task Force to facilitate the inventory of lands. The Task Force shall be composed of the following:

Chairman:	Secretary, DILG
Members:	Secretary, DENR
	Chairperson, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council
	Chief Executive Officer, Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board
	General Manager, National Housing Authority
	Administrator, National Mapping Resource Information Authority
	Administrator, LRA
	Director, Land Management Bureau

SECTION 4. Functions. The Task Force shall have the following functions:

1. Ensure the timely submission of inventory of lands by government agencies, and local government units by the end of December 2015, in time for the preliminary report of the Summit;

2. Review and assess the inventory of lands submitted by government entities and identify which are suitable for socialized housing and resettlement areas;

3. Submit a list of identified government lands as possible sites for socialized housing to the Office of the President on or before 29 February 2016; and

4. Perform such other functions as may be necessary for the successful implementation of this Circular.

SECTION 5. Repeal. All issuances, orders, rules, and regulations or parts thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Circular are hereby repealed and/or modified accordingly.

SECTION 6. Separability. If any provision of this Circular is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the other provisions unaffected shall remain valid and subsisting.

SECTION 7. Effectivity. This Circular shall take effect immediately.

DONE, in the City of Manila, this 1st day of December in the year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Fifteen.

By the President:

(SGD.) PAQUITO N. OCHOA, JR.
Executive Secretary