As long time advocates of the passage of a National Land Use Law, CLUP Now! welcomes the action of the Special Committee on Land Use to start the deliberation on the bills related to the enactment of a law which will govern the creation and the implementation of a national land use policy.
In this light we would like to submit our position on the enactment of a National Land Use Law.
Land is an essential part of the survival of mankind, in order that each woman and man may live humanely, decently, with dignity and comfortably. It is needed for food production, housing and settlement, building of roads and bridges, as well as for livelihood and industries to prosper and propel our nation to economic stability. In the same breath, land is essential for the survival of the countless species of flora and fauna in our environment which needs to be protected and sustained in order to maintain the balance of nature.
As our population increases, society’s use of land is likewise amplified. With society’s demands, our land resources are subjected to multiple and oftentimes conflicting use, abuse and misuse. Alarmingly, we now feel the consequences of our unfettered utilization of our land resources. We have been witnesses and victims of the most damaging typhoons and flood ever to have hit our nation. Aside from feeling the effects of climate change we have to contend with food and water crises, issues on conflicting claims and foreign land grabbing.
Undeniably, the state’s intervention is necessary and crucial to rationalize land use. This is premised on the fact that land is not just an economic object. It has a social function whereby any exercise of ownership or accessing rights to the land entails social responsibility. Land use must be regulated, taking into consideration its adverse effect on society and the environment and with an end goal of protecting the interest of the general welfare of the present an future generations.
It is thus proposed that a national law regulating and governing zoning and the land use policy be enacted. In line with this, it is further proposed that said law on zoning and land use policy should have the following features:
A. Rational & holistic
- Given that the issue of land use is multi sectoral, all possible factors and interlocking issues (i.e., environmental protection, food protection, settlement, tourism, agrarian reform, tourism, infrastructure, among others) related to the different sectors affected must be considered and addressed.
- Conflicting claims must be considered as a factor in land use planning and zoning, and mechanisms for the resolution of these conflicting claims should be put in place.
- A national base mapping system should be created and implemented, in order to facilitate the land use planning process and aid the actual land use determination.
- There should be a proper delineation of forests and a complete geohazard mapping program to effectively provide adequate and up to date information necessary for land use planning.
- A land use policy council should be created, and which will act as the highest policy making body on land use with quasi-judicial power to resolve conflicting land use policies.
- The land use planning mechanism should be based on national land use guidelines and zoning standards, which will serve as benchmark for the land use planning and zoning of all the national offices and local government units.
- In establishing and considering a framework for national land use, concerns of the basic sectors and local communities (i.e. agrarian reform concerns, socialized housing, mining on Indigenous Peoples’ lands, etc.) must be respected.
- Land use, especially areas to be protected for ecological purposes and areas to be developed and protected from conversion to ensure food security should be prioritized.
- Vested and prior rights should be considered and taken into account, among others in the enactment of a national land use law.
- Measures promoting land development, and discouraging land speculation merely for revenue generating purposes only, should be adopted.
- Given that there are issues and concerns which affect different sectors, the land use planning mechanism to be implemented should ensure the participation of all sectors concerned particularly, as regards the use and allocation of land for various purposes where there might be multiple and/or conflicting uses of land.
- Stakeholders should be given ample opportunities to actively participate in the land use planning process.
- Long-term strategies for social & economic stability, instead of short term reactive strategies should be prioritized, in relation to the creation and establishment of land use plans.
- More importantly, a national land use law must seek to integrate and institutionalise people’s participation in defining the framework and guiding principles of land allocation and utilization.
- It must provide for the mandatory participation of stakeholders in key decision making bodies on land use policy at all levels.
- A bottom-up approach in land use planning should be adopted.
- In consonance with the Constitution, our national land use law should protect the provisions of the same on National Patrimony.
- More importantly, our national land use law should ensure that use of the land should benefit the interest of the Filipino people more than those of foreign investors or a chosen few only.
- As mentioned, land is more than just an economic object. With the use of land, there is a corresponding social responsibility to preserve it for the use and enjoyment of future generations.
- Priorities for land use especially for the climate change adaptation and mitigation of communities should be established and put in place.
- The national land use law to be enacted should recognize the equal participation of women in land use planning as well as the rich and varied cultural heritage of our nation.
Given the foregoing points, we strongly support House Bill No. 478, entitled AN ACT INSTITUTING A ZONING AND LAND USE POLICY, PROVIDING THE IMPLEMENTING MECHANISMS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES, authored by Representative Arlene “Kaka” Baga-ao of Akbayan.
Again, CLUP Now! wishes to thank the Committee’s early action on the pertinent issue relating to the institution of a National Land Use Act. The enactment of a national land use law has been pending before numerous congresses in the past and we hope that under the 15th Congress, a law instituting zoning and land use policy, beneficial to the interest of our nation will be finally enacted.
Position papers by the following organizations demonstrate their support for this initiative (download links):
John J. Carroll Institute on Church and Social Issues (JJCICSI)
NGOs for Fisheries Reform (NFR)
