FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
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) 
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First Regular Session 
SENATE 
S.No. 
1665 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
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Small communities are vital components of the nation's economic, social, agricultural, 
historic, and cultural fabric. Our national character has been shaped by and is forever tied to the 
landscape of surrounding small communities. A growing number of small communities are 
facing significant challenges that place their long-term viability at risk, including economic 
hardship, declining population, eroding tax bases, and environmental pressures. Revitalizing and 
strengthening small communities begins by helping residents of those communities to articulate 
and formalize their vision for the future and to develop an action plan to achieve that vision, 
including in the areas of economic development, agriculture, tourism, transportation, land use, 
education, recreation, and culture, and by understanding the amenity characteristics of 
landscapes. 
In many cases, a community's yision for the future is rooted in and inseparable from the 
landscape, including the natural and built environments. Landscape architects have the 
education, training, and skills, including in the areas of community involvement and public 
participation, land use plauning, design, project visualization techniques, scenic resource 
assessment, mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), environmental analysis, and 
environmental psychology, that ideally qualify them to lead community visioning efforts. 
Expanding national support for small community visioning is an investment in the future 
of small communities and will leverage additional public and private sector participation in such 
efforts. Successful community visioning efforts have yielded tangible results with regard to the 
enhancement of transportation corridors, economic development initiatives, land use policies, 


conservation of natural and community resources, community master plans, and park and 
recreation plans. 
This bill seeks to develop and facilitate innovative visions that help small communities 
address pressing local needs; facilitate coordination between small communities, land-grant and 
other universities, and design professionals; encourage public-private partnerships; and translate 
the small community's vision into images of design projects that integrate physical planning and 
design techniques, with sustainable community action, at the appropriate geographic scale. l 
I This bill was originally filed in the Fourteenth Congress, Second Regular Session 


FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
First Regular Session 
) 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
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AN ACT 
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IMPROVING THE CAP ABILITY OF SMALL COMMUNITIES TO COORDINATE WITH 
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LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS AND DESIGN PROFESSIONALS IN DEVELOPING A 
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VISION TO ADDRESS THEIR LOCAL NEEDS 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
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Congress assembled: 
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SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Small Community Visioning 
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Improvement Act." 
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SECTION 2. Community Visioning Pilot Initiative. - The Secretary of Tourism shall 
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make grants to eligible recipients for the purposes of carrying out small community visioning 
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processes. In order to be eligible for a grant under this section, the applicant must use a small 
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community visioning process that includes the following: 
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A. 
Soliciting and Organizing Public Participation - The broadest segment of the 
public is invited to participate, and the process is structured to maximize 
participation and maintain efficiency. 
B. 
Needs Determination - The small community determines whether the 
community requires assistance through this process with a broad-based needs 
assessment or whether it has identified a specific' need through a prior 
community-based process that the community wants to address through the 
small community visioning process. The community'S needs may include the 
areas of economic development, transportation, land use, agriculture, and the 
natural, cultural, and aesthetic values of the community. 


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C. 
Developing Design Options - Members of the community engage in a series of 
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discussions to articulate their vision for addressing the identified need. The 
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design professionals facilitate the discussions, help members of the 
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community identify areas of consensus, and begin translating the vision into 
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images, including sketches, maps, digital images, computer simulations, and 
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design concepts. The vision and design options are refined in an ongoing 
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dialogue until community consensus is reached and physical designs for 1 or 
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more projects are finalized. 
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D. 
Implementation Planning - Design professionals, members of the public, and 
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others develop and finalize a plan that describes the specific steps the 
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community would take to achieve its vision. At a minimum, the plan should 
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identify the following: 
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1. projects relating to that vision, including projects the community 
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can undertake and complete with existing resources, personnel, and 
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funding, and projects which the community could undertake and 
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complete only with the infusion of additional resources, personnel, 
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and funding; 
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2. government agenCIes, 
nongovernmental 
entities, 
and other 
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potential partners that could participate in implementation; and 
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3. possible sources of public and private funding to achieve the 
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vision. 
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SECTION 3. Application Process for Grant Eligibility. - Not later than 60 days after the 
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Secretary issues final regulations, the Secretary shall solicit applications for grants from eligible 
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grant recipients. The application shall include the following: 
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A. 
A statement of the needs that the small community would address through the 
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small community visioning process, or a statement that the small community 
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requires assistance to identify such a need. 


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B. 
A brief description of process the small community used or will use to involve 
a diverse cross-section of residents of the community in determining the need. 
C. 
A description of how the applicant will use the services of design 
professionals or university programs with demonstrated expertise in small 
community visioning processes in providing assistance to the small 
community. 
D. 
A description of how the applicant will involve a diverse cross-section of 
residents of the small community in the visioning process. 
E. 
A description of the phases of the visioning process, the anticipated outcomes 
of each phase, and ofthe visioning initiative as a whole. 
F. 
A detailed budget for the visioning process, including the contribution to be 
provided by the applicant pursuant to subsection (h) or a request for waiver of 
such a contribution. 
G. 
A description of the steps the applicant will take to do the following: 
1. assess the effectiveness of the visioning process in addressing the 
community's need; and 
2. integrate the findings of the needs determination into ongomg 
efforts to implement the vision developed pursuant to this section. 
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SECTION 4. Grant Regulations. - Within 180 days after the effectivity date of this Act 
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and after opportunity for public comment, the Secretary shall issue such regulations as the 
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Secretary deems appropriate to carry out this section. 
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SECTION 5. Grant Amounts and Administrative Expenses. - A grant under this section 
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shall not exceed one million pesos (Pl,OOO,OOO.OO) for each grantee. 
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A. 
Administrative Expenses - The Secretary may use not more than 20 percent of 
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the total amount appropriated under this section for each fiscal year to 
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administer this section. 


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B. 
Limitation - A grant nnder this section shall not be used to develop or produce 
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construction documents. 
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SECTION 6. Report to Congress. - Not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment 
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of this section, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees in the Senate and House 
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of Representatives a report that describes, at a minimum--
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A. 
the most effective practices and procedures used to assist communities in the 
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small commnnity visioning process; 
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B. 
examples of the public-private partnerships developed to identify and 
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implement community goals; 
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C. 
examples of the tangible, physical outcomes of small community visioning 
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processes funded under this section; 
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D. 
recommendations for improving, strengthening, and expanding the program 
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carried out under this section; and 
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E. 
a list of all grantees under this section, the province in which the grantees are 
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located, and grant amonnts received by each grantee. 
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SECTION 7. Appropriation. - The amonnt of twenty million pesos (P20,OOO,OOO.OO) is 
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hereby authorized to be appropriated for the grants to implement the community visioning 
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processes. Thereafter, the funds necessary for the operation of the program shall be included in 
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the General Appropriations Act. 
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SECTION 8. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part thereof is held invalid or 
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unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall remain 
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valid and subsisting. 
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SECTION 9. Repealing Clause. - All laws, presidential decree or issuance, executive 
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orders, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule and regulation contrary to, or inconsistent 
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with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, modified, or amended accordingly. 


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SECTION 10. Effectivity Clause, - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days following 
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its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
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Approved, 
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