Philippines: All offices of Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in the Philippines have to adopt the Philippine Reference System of 1992 (PRS92) as the standard reference for all their surveying and mapping activities. Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje made this announcement.
Paje issued the directive in consonance with Executive Order No. 321 issued in 2004 which sets the year 2010 as the deadline for the integration of old surveys in the PRS92 system. “PRS92 is based on the World Geodetic System of 1984 (WGS84) which makes use of the GPS. This is now the trend worldwide and its adoption here in the Philippines will definitely put us not only at par with global standards but will also allow for greater efficiency in our land administration programme,” Paje said.
According to him, the maps that will generated under the new system will be compatible with global coordinates obtained from GPS and with other coordinate systems adopted in many parts of the world. “PRS92 will facilitate the efficient integration and conversion of old surveys and maps into the network for the sustainable management and development of the country’s natural resources and to establish more accurate spatial positioning for infrastructure and in the establishment of political boundaries of provinces and towns,” Paje added.
Another advantage of PRS92, according to the DENR chief, is in the ease of accessing geographic data, as well as in the accuracy of the information generated by the system. “Under a single unified system, we hope to end the perennial problem of boundary overlaps and gaps between adjoining parcels of lands so that a particular space on the ground will have only one location in any official Philippine map,” Paje noted.
A key component of PRS 92 is the nationwide establishment of permanent reference points – referred to as “mojons” – to serve as control points of all survey activities of both the government and private surveyors for the benefit of landowners.
Prior to PRS92, the country uses the old national geodetic network called the Philippine Geodetic Network, which was established by the United States Coast Guard and Geodetic Survey in 1901 to 1946.
Since it is a homogeneous network, it will be used by all agencies of the government such as the Departments of Public Works and Highways, Agrarian Reforms Agriculture, National Irrigation Authority, the academe and others as well as government and private surveyors in their surveying and mapping activities, according to the DENR chief.
Source: www.zamboangatoday.ph
