Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
Second Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. 10320 
Introduced by Representative Wilbert T. Lee 
AN ACT  
FOR THE PROMOTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE AGARWOOD 
INDUSTRY, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Article XII, Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution provides that “[t]he State shall promote 
industrialization and full employment based on sound agricultural development and agrarian 
reform, through industries that make full and efficient use of human and natural resources, and 
which are competitive in both domestic and foreign markets”. 
Among our abundant natural resources, Agarwood is the highest-valued forest product 
in the world because of its distinctive fragrance which is commonly sourced from Aquilaria.1 
Most of the endemic Agarwood trees can be found in the forests of Mindanao. It may be used 
as a material for incense, perfume, and medicine which makes it a product subject of high 
global demand.2 The opportunity of investing in Agarwood is promising as it only requires an 
affordable capitalization to earn a promising amount if the trees could produce P100,000 per 
kilo. Aside from this, it is profitable during its different phases from seedlings to trees.3  
Due to the high value of the Agarwood, the government highly regulates its trade and 
commercialization to protect it from further extinction. The Philippines is a state party to the 
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) 
which protects Agarwood by imposing strict regulations to avoid utilization incompatible with 
their survival. In line with this Convention, Agarwood is classified as a threatened plant and 
endangered species in our country under the National List of Threatened Flora and 
Administrative Order 2017-11 of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.  
1 S.R. Adhikari et al. (2021) Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. Vol 9(1): 23-31 DOI: 10.3126/ijasbt.v9i1.35984  
2 
Sunstar, 
‘Authorities 
seize 
P145M 
worth 
of 
agarwood’, 
11 
October 
2022, 
available 
at 
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/local-news/authorities-seize-p145m-worth-of-agarwood. 
3 Inquirer, ‘Agarwood can reintroduce PH to the world’, 05 February 2024, available at 
https://business.inquirer.net/444136/agarwood-can-reintroduce-ph-to-the-world. 
May 6, 2024
8:00 am


The CITES requires that there be an export or re-export certificate from the 
Management Authority of the State of export which can be granted only if the specimen is 
legally obtained. The rules of DENR provide that a wildlife collector’s permit shall be secured 
to take or collect from the wild agarwood for commercial purposes, and a wildlife farm/culture 
permit is required to maintain a wildlife breeding farm for conservation, trade, and scientific 
purposes. A local transport permit is required to transport legally acquired seeds, seedlings, 
agarwood, and other agarwood by-product derivatives. The subject of the said rules is wild 
Aquilaria, but due to the absence of rules for privately owned Aquilaria, these restrictive 
measures are also being applied to specimens not in the wild. The figures of high potential 
Agarwood’s profit and benefits to our farmers and economy are sufficient reasons to further 
explore the commercialization of this species. 
The bill differentiates wild and farmed Aquilaria from each other to provide more 
liberalized measures to the latter so that interested Filipinos can engage in trade in this industry 
without harming the former. This definition would thresh out farmed agarwood and legally 
sourced and grown, cultivated, or developed by a person on his private farm, from strict 
measures imposed by our present regulations. Moreover, the bill proposes to further protect the 
farmers and the quality of Filipino Aquilaria by mandating the Nursery Farms that only 
seedlings of high quality or high yielding can be distributed and sold to the farmers. With the 
mass production of seedlings and propagations available to the public, this proposal is highly 
sought for the public to be properly protected and guided on engaging in the agarwood 
business.   
The bill aims to attain sustainable commercialization of the Agarwood industry by 
promoting the increase in the number of wild Aquilaria. Only farmed Aquilaria are generally 
subject to trade and commercialization but the wild Aquilaria to be planted by Agarwood 
farmers shall be primarily for protection and preservation purposes. 
Every Filipino shall be given the opportunity to venture into the industry of Agarwood, 
and the government shall provide protection for Agarwood farmers, and training for growing 
and harvesting Agarwood. Private farm registration shall be freely granted to any interested 
Filipinos, as well as the necessary government assistance programs and necessary training be 
provided to help the propagation and development of the agarwood industry in the country. 
This development also allows indigenous people and cultural communities to grow Agarwood 
in their ancestral domain with the profits to be shared with their community. 
 To ensure that Filipinos are prepared to bring the best out of Agarwood, the Aquilaria 
Industry Authority (AIA) and Aquilaria Research Office (ARO) are instituted. The AIA aims 
to develop the industry and assist farmers who are interested in venturing into the Aquilaria 
industry. On the other hand, the ARO serves as a think-tank of the Agarwood industry by 
providing and conducting thorough, scientific, and comprehensive research and studies in the 
value chain consisting of agar-farming, processing, and trade that will serve as a guide for the 
farmers. With these developments, the benefits and opportunities offered by Aquilaria are 
within the reach of farmers, and they are more than ready to maximize the benefits of Aquilaria. 
The promising profit from a sustainable Agarwood industry can generate jobs and 
livelihood in many parts of the country and contribute to the Philippine economy. Our 
countrymen deserve to be given more opportunities to venture into such a high-value industry 
and to compete globally. With this policy, we ensure the proper utilization and at the same time 
protection of Aquilaria from over-exploitation that our countrymen and Aquilarias deserve. 


In view of the foregoing, the approval of this bill is earnestly sought. 


Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
Second Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. 10320 
Introduced by Representative Wilbert T. Lee 
AN ACT  
FOR THE PROMOTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE AGARWOOD INDUSTRY, 
AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
Sec. 1. Short Title. This Act shall be known as the “Agarwood Industry Development Act”. 
Sec. 2. Declaration of Policy.  It is hereby declared to the policy of the State, in accordance 
with the Constitution, that the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology shall be 
protected and advanced in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature. The State shall promote 
the rights of indigenous cultural communities within the framework of national unity and 
development and comprehensive rural development. 
The State recognizes that the commercialization of Agarwood generates more income for 
more Filipinos, and the policy for mandatory growing of Agarwood in identified areas by the 
traders makes the former sustainable. The State further recognizes that commercialization 
generates more job opportunities for Filipinos and places the Philippines on par with global 
competitors.  
Sec. 3.  Definition – As used in this Act, the following terms are defined, as follows: 
(1) Private Farm – refers to a registered farm legally owned or rented located at private
land, ancestral land, or ancestral domain, to grow, cultivate, harvest, and develop
farmed Aquilaria that are legally acquired.
(2) Nursery Farm - refers to a farm owned or rented by a private person located at a private
land, ancestral land, or ancestral domain, to grow, cultivate, and develop Aquilaria
legally acquired, and to harvest the same and its high-yielding seedlings with the
correct classification and label for the purpose of distribution to the farmers.


(3) Wildlife – means wild forms and varieties of flora and fauna from public lands and 
protected areas, in all developmental stages, including those which are in captivity or 
are being bred or propagated. 
(4) Wild Aquilaria – refers to Aquilaria sourced or harvested from the wild without the 
necessary permits required by the laws and regulations, including those that are sourced 
and harvested from private farms without the necessary registration.  
(5) Farmed Aquilaria – refers to Aquilaria not from the wild, but one that is legally sourced 
and grown, cultivated, harvested, or developed by a person on a private farm or nursery 
for purposes of preservation, protection, study, or trade.  
(6) Agarwood – refers to a resinous, fragrant and highly valuable heartwood produced by 
Aquilaria malaccensis and other species of the Indomalesian tree genus Aquilaria. 4 
(7) Aquilaria – a genus belonging to Thymelacaceae family of Indo-Malayan trees known 
for producing the world’s most expensive oils, which are naturally occurring 
throughout the Philippines.5  
 
Sec. 4. Creation of Agarwood Industry Authority (AIA) – The AIA shall be created to 
implement and attain the declared national policy, hereinafter referred to as Authority, attached to 
the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.  
 
 
Sec. 5. Objectives of the Agarwood Industry Authority – The objectives of this Act are as 
follows:  
a) To promote and provide direction for the farming, propagation, harvesting, trading, 
commercialization, development, and sustainability of Aquilaria; 
b) To institutionalize and promote the Aquilaria of Filipinos to be globally competitive; 
c) To ensure that Agarwood farmers, traders, and consumers are protected; 
d) To enhance knowledge and information for the Filipinos who engage in the Aquilaria 
industry to be prepared and have the necessary knowledge for cultivation, growing, and 
harvesting, and trading the same; 
e) To provide stable livelihood opportunities to less fortunate farmers in communities 
dependent on Aquilaria trade; 
f) To encourage low-income farmers to plant Aquilaria and provide them with the necessary 
training, funds, and capital; 
g) To ensure that farms for Aquilaria farming shall not, in any case, impede and threaten the 
number of farms for planting crops that are necessary for food security; 
h) To improve the quality of Aquilaria developed in the Philippines making it internationally 
known and competitive; 
i) To protect wild Aquilaria from overexploitation and promote the numbers of the same.  
 
Sec. 6 Powers and Functions of Agarwood Industry Authority –The Authority shall have 
the following powers and functions: 
 
a) To serve as the Management Authority for farmed Aquilaria. 
 
4 A.Barden, A., Anak, N., Mulliken, T., and Song, Heart of the matter: Agarwood Use and Trade and CITES 
Implementation for Aquilaria Malaccensis. 
5 Ceniza, L., Pogosa, J., Lina, S., and Bande (2021), Conservation and Ecological Threats of Agarwood (Aquilaria 
sp.) on Leyte Island, Philippines. International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development. 


b) To administer the registration of private farms and trees, and instrumentalities to aid in 
record-keeping and data consolidations; tracking the statistics on agarwood trees planted, 
harvested, processed, and traded; 
c) To formulate and adopt a general program of development for the aquilaria industry in all 
its aspects; 
d) To formulate and implement a nationwide planting program using precocious high-
yielding species of Aquilaria. The program may include new and existing farm areas 
suitable for growing Aquilaria on public lands provided existing agricultural plants planted 
shall not be reduced in population and volume of harvest shall not be affected by planting 
aquilaria;  
e) To distribute, for free and or at subsidized cost, to Aquilaria farmers the high-yielding 
aquilaria developed by the Authority; 
f) To provide a classification and labeling scheme based on the quality and yield of the 
commercial agarwood to protect our traders and buyers;  
g) To review and revise, and thereafter integrate into the adopted general program of 
development, the existing policies, programs, projects, and activities of all other 
government agencies directly relating to the development of the industry; 
h) To conduct genetical and agricultural research and investigations for the improvement of 
the aquilaria industry productively; 
i) To provide comprehensive training and certification courses to the Nursery Farms to ensure 
the harvesting of high-quality seeds, and cultivating the same to become high-value, high-
yielding, and high-quality seedlings available to the farmers;  
j) To institutionalize, establish, operate, and maintain an Aquilaria Research Office that will 
undertake extensive research on the following but not limited to:  
 
1) Value chain which includes agarwood farming, harvesting, processing, and trade.  
2) Best inoculant suitable for different areas and zones of Aquilaria farms to maximize 
the yield of the farmers. 
3) Control and eradication of Aquilaria diseases and pests and in the method of making 
agarwood.  
4) Best practices for growing Aquilaria trees and their cultivation to make it a high-value 
tree. 
5) Suitable public lands for growing Aquilaria and recommend the same for the utilization 
of such land to increase the numbers of Aquilaria to be approved by the Department of 
Environment and Natural Resources.  
6) Ensuring high-yielding seedlings are grown and traded by Filipino farmers.  
7) Classifications of Aquilaria based on their quality, genetics, and identity taking into 
consideration the global demand and supply. 
8) Information regarding physical condition, habitat structure, and ecological threats of 
Aquilaria.  
9) Training which is necessary for the farmers to properly grow, develop, and harvest 
Aquilaria.  
k) To explore and expand the domestic and foreign markets for aquilaria products and by-
products; 
l) To institutionalize, establish, operate, and maintain an Aquilaria Registration Office that 
will facilitate the registration of Aquilaria farm and tree, nursery farm permit, and report 


of harvest, and trade to keep a consolidated record of data of all value chains of Aquilaria 
in the country.  
m) To administer the marketing and the exportation of agarwood, its seedlings, and its product 
derivatives by establishing standards for domestic trade and export and, thereafter, to 
conduct an inspection of all aquilaria and its derivatives proposed for export to determine 
if they conform to the standards established; 
n) To prioritize Filipino farmers in buying opportunities and distribution for high-yielding 
seedlings and seeds developed from Nursery Farms and Authority;  
o) To conduct visits on farms ensuring the numbers of aquilarias being grown, cultivated, or 
developed in private farms.  
p) To devise and thereafter prescribe by means of rules and regulations a method of measuring 
the moisture content of aquilaria products and its derivatives at its first domestic sale and 
a scale of deduction according to the percentage of the moisture content; 
q) To enter into, make, and execute contracts of any kind as may be necessary or incidental 
to the attainment of its purposes and, generally, to exercise all the powers necessary to 
achieve the purposes and objectives for which it is organized; Provided, however, it shall 
not engage in commercial/industrial activities including the commercial production of high 
yielding aquilaria; 
r) Except in respect of entities owned or controlled by the government, the Authority shall 
have full power and authority to regulate the production, distribution, and utilization of all 
subsidized agarwood-based products, and to require the submission of such reports or 
documents as may be deemed necessary by the Authority; 
s) To promulgate rules and regulations to carry out the provisions and policy objectives of 
this Act; 
 
t) To formulate a system for the reward of compensation of persons instrumental in the 
discovery of violations of this law or implementing rules and regulations, and conviction 
of the violators; and, whenever necessary, to provide for the appropriate security of the 
witnesses testifying against such violators;  
u) To provide a suggested retail price to guide and protect the traders and consumers; 
v) To provide guidelines for multiplying the Aquilaria by requiring those involved in trading 
or business of the same to plant and maintain Aquilaria on the public lands for preservation. 
Such tree shall be categorized as wild Aquilaria in aid of promoting the numbers of wild 
agarwood in the Philippines.  
w) To exercise such other powers as may be necessary and proper for the effective 
enforcement of this law and the implementing rules and regulations; and 
 
Sec. 7. Agarwood Research Office (ARO) – The ARO shall be composed of experts on 
Aquilaria, and other matters related to its farming, processing, and trading from the academe and 
farming sector. The ARO shall serve as the scientific authority for farmed Aquilaria.  
 
Sec. 8.   Loan Preferential Rates – The Development Bank of the Philippines shall create a 
program for financing Agarwood Business conducted in private farms with preferential loan rates. 
The program shall only have penalties after failure to pay the unpaid balance after 1 year of harvest 
for the Aquilaria covered by the land and receipt of payment from the same. The policies to be 
formulated by the Bank shall take into account the special circumstances and characteristics of 
growing and harvesting Aquilaria as to be determined and suggested by the ARO. The loan shall 


cover the following, but not limited to, working capital, acquisition of machinery and equipment, 
and construction/establishment of facilities.  
 
Sec. 9.  Aquilaria in the Public Lands. -  All naturally grown Aquilaria growing in public 
lands are to be classed, treated, and protected as wild Aquilaria and under the supervision and 
regulations of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources implementing Republic Act 
9147, the Philippines Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act. 
 
Sec. 10. Aquilaria in the Ancestral Domain Lands. -  All naturally grown Aquilaria in the 
Ancestral Domain Lands are classed, treated, and protected as wild Aquilaria and under the 
Supervision and Regulations of the National Commission for the Indigenous Peoples 
implementing Republic Act 8371, the Indigenous People Rights Act. 
 
Sec. 11.   Aquilaria artificially propagated, planted, and grown in the Private lands and 
Ancestral Domain. -  All artificially propagated, planted, and grown Aquilaria by the farmers in 
their registered private farms, shall be classed, treated, and utilized as farmed aquilaria including 
its processed, main products, and derivatives. 
 
Provided, that Aquilaria acquired from the ancestral domain with the required registration that 
is planted and cultured by IP/ICC shall not be categorized as wild Aquilaria. The profit and benefit 
resulting from the harvest of the Aquilaria shall be shared with their community. 
 
Sec. 12. Aquilaria naturally growing in the Private lands. -  All naturally grown Aquilaria in 
the private lands of any person shall be classed, treated, and utilized as farmed aquilaria including 
its processed, main products, and derivatives. Provided, that the tree shall be registered, and 
declared to have been naturally grown. The Authority shall not be barred from conducting a visit 
to ensure that the declaration is true.  
 
Sec. 13. Regulations and Supervision. -  All registered farmed Aquilarias grown in private 
lands and lands of ancestral domain, are under the supervision and regulation of the Agarwood 
Industry Authority and have the power to supervise the development of numbers of Aquilaria.  
 
Sec. 14. Private Farm Registration – The farmers shall register their private farms used for 
growing, cultivating, harvesting, processing, and trading of Aquilaria to the Authority.  
 
The following are the requirements of the free registration to the Authority:  
 
a) Proof of ownership of private land ancestral land or domain or rental agreement for private 
land 
b) Completion of undertaking 
 
c.1. The undertaking shall have the following stipulations and conditions:  
 
(a) To comply with the guidelines provided by the Authority regarding the promotion of 
the number of Aquilaria; 
(b) To comply with all environmental laws and regulations; 


(c) To submit an annual report of harvest and status of the registered farmed aquilarias in 
the private farm; and 
(d) To attend a seminar conducted by the Authority regarding restrictions for harvesting 
and growing wild Aquilaria within one year from the registration. 
 
Lack of any of the requirements for a private farm registration, and failure to comply with the 
undertaking shall automatically revoke the registration.  
 
Sec. 15 Nursery Farm Permit – The farmers shall acquire a permit to operate a Nursery Farm 
that is used for growing, cultivating, harvesting, processing, and trading Aquilaria, and distributing 
developed and cultivated Aquilaria seedlings to the farmers.  The Authority shall require that the 
Nursery Farm be operated by a person bound to engage in continuous learning and with expertise 
in planting and harvesting agarwood to ensure that the seedlings grown by Filipinos are high-
quality.  
 
Sec. 16 Obligations of Nursery Farm – The Nursery shall ensure that only high-quality 
seedlings within the standards and classification to be provided by the Authority are distributed to 
the public. The Nursery Farm shall serve as the primary source of seedlings of private farms to 
ensure high-yielding and high-quality seedlings.  
 
The Nursery shall provide the proper labeling and classification of seedlings they are 
distributing to Agarwood farmers. Wrongful and intentional labeling and classifying of the 
seedlings distributed and sold to the public shall be meted with a penalty of automatic revocation 
of their permit.  
 
Sec. 17.  Weight of Farm and Tree Registration, and Proof of Legal Acquisition of Seedling 
– The registration of the tree and farm, and proof of legal acquisition of seedling shall make the 
Aquilaria planted, grown, cultivated, or developed therefrom as a farmed aquilaria that can be 
subject to transportation, commerce, and trade without the need of securing other permits and 
certification, except in exportation when the exporting state requires an export permit as provided 
under the CITES. 
 
Sec. 18.   Identification and Registration of Farmed Aquilarias in the Private Farm – All 
Aquilarias shall be identified in the private farm and registered with the Authority. The registration 
shall only require the presentation of the legal acquisition of the tree and the registration of the 
private farm where it is to be planted. Failure to register the aquilaria shall render the registration 
of the farm automatically revoked, and the harvested Aquilaria therefrom shall be treated as wild 
Aquilaria.  
 
Sec. 19.  Report of Harvest – The harvest of the Agarwood shall be reported to the Authority 
for record purposes. No approval of the report shall be required to render the harvest legal. Mere 
reporting of the harvest to the Authority is sufficient to make the harvest legal. Failure to report 
shall render the harvest illegal and the by-products deriving therefrom.  
 


The Authority shall conduct an annual ocular visit to private farms. The purpose of such a visit 
is to ensure whether the actual Aquilaria planted therein reflects the number of registered 
Aquilaria.  
 
Sec. 20. Protected Areas – The Authority and ARO shall identify areas of the natural habitat 
of wild agarwood and recommend for declaration of the same as a protected area for preservation 
of Aquilaria to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Such areas shall be 
protected from any taking, collection, poaching, or harvesting of any portion of agarwood unless 
necessary permits are acquired. The Authority and ARO shall recommend the protected areas 
within 60 days from the effectivity of this Act. Provided, that the Department shall not be restrained 
to declare more protected areas after its first declaration.  
 
Sec. 21.  Protection of Wild Aquilaria – No trade or business of aquilaria shall be valid unless 
the legal acquisition and source of the same are proven. The presentation of the registration of trees 
and farms where the aquilaria is grown, cultivated, or developed shall be sufficient to prove that it 
is not from wildlife. 
 
Sec. 22. Punishable Acts– It shall be unlawful for any person to commit the following acts 
willfully and knowingly: 
 
a) Trading of farmed Aquilaria and a by-product of the same with the knowledge that the farm 
or tree is unregistered or trading of the same with a falsified registration;  
b) Taking any portion of Aquilaria planted in a private farm owned or rented by another 
person; and 
c) Fraudulently representing to another that the product is Aquilaria to induce the person to 
engage in the transaction.   
 
Sec. 23. Illegal Possession of Wild Aquilaria – Any person in possession of an Aquilaria who 
has no necessary permit or registration such as a wildlife permit or private farm and tree 
registration shall be deemed to have illegally acquired and possessed the Aquilaria. 
 
Sec. 24. Penalties – The punishable acts shall be punished by a fine of not more than 5,000,000 
and by imprisonment of not more than twenty years. If the offender be a corporation, partnership, 
or juridical person, the penalty shall be imposed on the officer or officers authorizing, permitting, 
or tolerating the violation. 
 
Sec. 25. Appropriations – The amount necessary for the effective implementation of this Act 
shall be taken from the appropriations of the DENR. Thereafter, such amount as may be needed 
for the continued implementation of this Act shall be included in the annual GAA.  
 
Sec. 26. Separability Clause. - If for any reason, any part or provision of this Act is declared 
invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining parts or provisions not affected thereby shall remain in 
full force and effect. 
 


Sec. 27. Repealing Clause. - All laws, executive orders, presidential decrees, rules, and 
regulations or parts thereof contrary to or inconsistent with any provisions of this Act are hereby 
repealed, amended, or modified accordingly. 
 
Sec. 28. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the 
Official Gazette or in two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.