Published December 29, 2020, 3:33 PM The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) was able to issue over 86,000 agricultural and residential free patents across the country. From 2019 to October 2020, the DENR reported that its regional offices had issued a total of 30,456 agricultural free patents covering around 20,144.98 hectares across 14 regions in the country, topping its original target by 4.25 percent. According to DENR-Land Management Bureau (LMB) Director Emelyne Talabis, the increase can be attributed to the December 31, 2020 deadline on the filing of applications pursuant to Republic Act 9176, as well as the increased use of the Land Administration Management System Philippines (LAMS), which fast tracked the approval of land surveys.