Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

:
F TIME.

HOUSE BILL NO._7526
Introduced by Hon. Salvador B. Belaro Jr.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

According to the United Nations (UN) Population Division, world
population is expected to increase to 9.1 billion by the year 2050 during which
period 70% of our population will be living in urban areas

On the other hand, the UN Human Settlements Program (UN Habitat)
estimated that around “250 million hungry people in the world live in cities” and
that “low income urban dwellers spend between 40%-60% of their income on
food each year.” Also, “hunger, poverty, and environmental degradation were
identified by the United Nations Development (UNDP) as “the problems that
most urban areas in developing countries are facing.”

“Farming in the city” or urban agriculture is one solution suggested by the
UNDP. Urban agriculture, as defined by the Food and Agriculture organization
(FAO), is “an industry that produces, processes and markets food and fuel, largely
in response to the daily demand of consumers within a town, city or metropolis,
on land and water dispersed throughout the urban and peri-urban area, applying
intensive production methods, using and reusing natural resources and urban
waste to yield a diversity of crop and livestock.



Urban agriculture, as claimed by the UNDP, “has the potential of providing
much higher nutritional improvement, hunger reduction, income-generation,
enterprise development, and environmental improvement to the city.”

This bill proposes the institutionalization of integrated urban agriculture
and vertical farming in the country in order to ensure food security, to promote
livelihood, and to regenerate ecosystem functions in metropolitan areas through
integrated urban agriculture and vertical farming.

Hence, the passage of this legislation is earnestly sought.

4, o_—_

HON. SALVADOR B. BELARO, JR.
Representative
1-Ang Edukasyon Party List


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. _'7526

Introduced by: Hon. Salvador B. Belaro Jr.

AN ACT
PROMOTING INTEGRATED URBAN AGRICULTURE AND
VERTICAL FA iG IN THE COUNTRY, APPROPRIATING FUNDS
THEREFOR

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines
in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the “Integrated Urban
Agriculture and Vertical Farming Act of 2018”.

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is hereby declared the policy of the
State to reaffirm the fundamental right of every person to adequate food and to
be free from hunger. It is also a primary policy of the state to achieve self-
sufficiency in food production and building climate resilient communities.

SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. — For the purpose of this Act, the term

a. “Integrated Urban Agriculture” shall refer to the practice of cultivating.
processing and distributing of agricultural products from animal
husbandry, aquaculture, agro-forestry and horticulture in or around a
metropolitan village, town and city;


b. “Vertical Farming” shall refer to the method or practice of indoor
agriculture growing produce in vertically stacked layers in skyscrapers and
modern buildings using geoponic', hydroponic? or aeroponic® growing
methods.

SECTION 4. Comprehensive Research on Integrated Urban Agriculture and
Vertical Farming. — The Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of
Science and Technology (DOST), Commission on Higher Education (CHED)

and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), are hereby
mandated to conduct comprehensive research and development on the promotion
of integrated urban agriculture and vertical farming.

Key reforms towards the research and development of modern,
appropriate, cost-effective and environmentally conducive agricultural
technologies are hereby encouraged in order to ensure food security, to promote
livelihood, and to regenerate ecosystem functions in metropolitan areas through
agriculture.

Idle and/or abandoned government lots and buildings owned by either
national and local governments or available land resources in state universities
and colleges shall be considered conducive for growing crops, raising livestock
and producing food using said methods, provided that these are compliant and
subject to safety standards such that of DOST and other pertinent agencies.

SECTION 5. Inclusion of Integrated Urban Agriculture and Vertical Farming in
the Curricula. — A subject on integrated urban agriculture and vertical farming
shall be included in the academic curricula in the primary and secondary schools,
public or private, including its research and practical application.

For universities, colleges and training centers, both public and private,
integrated urban agriculture and vertical farming shall be required as an advanced
elective course for students pursuing Agriculture, Practical Arts, Home
Economics, and other agriculture-related courses.

* Geoponic or geoponics refer to growing plants in a normal soil or an aggregate medium.
Hydroponics is a subset of hydroculture, which includes the growing of plants without the use of
soil. It uses mineral nutrient solutions in a water solvent.

3 Aeroponics is the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment without the use of soil or
an aggregate medium.


Utilization plans shall be formulated to maximize the space and other
resources available to schools, universities and colleges. Instructional materials
and facilities shall also be provided and developed without incurring costs to
students.

SECTION 6. Creation and Composition of Urban Farming Council. — There is
hereby established an Urban Farming Council (UFC), which shall be an attached
agency to the Department of Agriculture (DA). The UFC shall be composed of
the following members:

p

. Secretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA), as Chairperson;

b. Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST); as Vice
Chairperson

c. Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR), as member;

d. Secretary of the Department of Finance (DOF), as member;

e. Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). as

member;

f. Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd), as member;

. Chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED)
Director-General of the Technical Education and Skills Development
Authority (TESDA), as member;

i. Representative from a People’s Organization (PO), as member;

j. Representative from a Non-Government Organization (NGO), as member;

k. Representative from the National Urban Poor Sector Council of the

National Anti-Poverty Commission (NUPSC-NAPC), as member;

1. National President of the League of Cities of the Philippines, as member;

m. National President of the League of the Municipalities of the Philippines,

as member:

n. Representative from the private sector who has an expertise in urban

agriculture and/or vertical farming, as member.

SECTION 7. Role of Local Government Units. — The local government units
shall formulate a policy on the practice of urban farming, utilizing spaces and idle
lands. This shall require the enactment of local legislations institutionalizing
integrated urban agriculture and vertical gardening in all levels of local


government, enacting ordinances and other measures to allocate budget
appropriations therefor.

All cities and urbanized municipalities shall extend assistance to urban
practitioners and farmers to practice urban farming and for them to benefit from
incentives under this Act.

All homeowners associations, neighborhood associations and community
and/or people’s organizations are encouraged to participate in urban farming
activities within their areas. The concerned local government units shall grant
necessary incentives for the benefits of the members of the concerned
associations or organizations.

SECTION 8. Appropriations. — An initial amount of One Hundred Million Pesos
(P100,000,000.00) necessary to carry out the provision of this Act shall be
included in the General Appropriation Act of the year following its enactment
into law.

SECTION 9. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — The Department of
Agriculture (DA), in coordination with the members of the Urban Farming
Council (UFC), shall promulgate the necessary implementing rules and
regulations to implement the provisions of this Act.

SECTION 10. Separability Clause. — If any provision hereof is held invalid or
unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or provision not otherwise affected
shall remain valid and subsisting.

SECTION 11. Repealing Clause. — All laws, presidential decrees, executive
orders, rules and regulations contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this
Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SECTION 12. Effectivity Clause. — This act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved,