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SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
) 
) 
) 
SENATE 
S.B. NO. 665 
Introduced by SENATOR FERDINAND R. MARCOS, JR. 
Explanatory Note 
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The 1987 Constitution provides that, "the State shall, by law, and for the 
common good, undertake, in cooperation with the private sector, a continuing 
program of urban land reform and housing which will make available at 
affordable cost, decent housing and basic services to under-privileged and 
homeless citizens in urban centers and resettlement ar.eas. x x x." (Article XIII, 
Section 9) True.to the above mandate, numerous agencies, public and private, 
as well as the local government units, have been given imprimatur by the State to 
institute programs and construct facilities aimed at delivering to our citizens the 
most basic commodity of shelter. 
The Philippines suffers a severe shortage in housing. Credible and current 
statistics show that there still remains a heavy backlog in the housing sector, 
which now stands at a dismal 3.63 million housing units. 
This is not to say that the various agencies involved in housing, such as 
the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, the Department of Agrarian 
Reform, the Department of Agriculture, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, our local 
government units, and other agencies are not capable or effective in addressing 
the shortage or to ensure a viable and sustainable national housing program. But 
the fact remains that consumers, buying public, and the private sector have been 
complaining about long and exasperating lines and waiting times, and graft-prone 
transactions in the processing and approval of documentary requirements related 
to real estate development and housing. 
Indeed, the State has already enacted Republic Act No. 9485 or the Anti-
Red Tape Act of 2007 to address precisely the problem of graft and red tape in 
government transactions. However, we need cfearer and more specific 
mechanisms and rules with regard to processes and transactions related to real 
estate development and housing. Consistent with the spirit and intention of the 
Anti-Red Tape Act, it is crucial that we establish one-stop shops for housing 
permits in order to centralize related processes and transactions under one roof. 
We also need to prescribe time periods for issuance of housing-related 
certifications, clearances and permits, and impose sanctions for failure to 
observe the same. 


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In 2001, the Office of the President issued Executive Order No. 45, which 
sought to establish regional housing one-stop shops, prescribe time periods 
within which housing-related permits and certifications should be issued or 
decided, and also impose sanctions for violations thereof. Considering that no 
less than the Executive Department has recognized this serious bureaucratic 
issue and has taken action, it is the duty of the Legislative Department to do its 
part and to follow it through. Congress has the duty to elevate this important 
executive issuance to the level of a statutory mandate, and also to improve 
the same. 
In view of thereof, the passage of this bill is earnestly requested, 
\ 
R. MARCOS, JR 


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SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
) 
) 
) 
SENATE 
SENATE BILL NO. 665 
Introduced by Senator FERDINAND R. MARCOS, JR. 
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AN ACT ESTABLISHING REGIONAL HOUSING ONE-STOP SHOPS, 
PRESCRIBING TIME PERIODS FOR ISSUANCE OF HOUSING- RELATED 
CERTIFICATIONS, CLEARANCES AND PERMITS, AND IMPOSING 
SANCTIONS FOR FAILURE TO OBSERVE THE SAME, 
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the 
Phifippines in Congress Assembled: 
SECTION 1. Statement of Policy. - Consistent with Republic Act No. 9485 
or the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007, it is the policy of the State to promote integrity, 
accountability, proper management of public affairs and public property as well 
as to establish effective practices aimed at expediting official transactions in 
government, in order to prevent demoralization of the housing stakeholders and 
and the buying public, as well as to prevent graft and reduce red tape. 
SECTION 2, Coverage. - This Act shall cover all local government units, 
and government agencies involved in the regulation of the development of real 
estate and the approval of housing and settlement plans and projects such as 
the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB), Department of 
Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Environment and Natural Resources 
(DENR), Department of Agriculture (DAl. and the Bureau of Internal Revenue 
(BIR). 
SECTION 3. Mandatory Continuing Program of Systems Improvement. -
Government agencies and local government units are mandated to regularly 
undertake time and motion studies. 
undergo yearly evaluation and 
improvement of their transaction systems and procedures and re-engineer the 
same if deemed necessary to reduce bureaucratic red tape and processing 
time of transactions and procedures. For this purpose, all government 
agencies and local government units shall regularly improve and update their 
respective Citizen's Charters that they are mandated to provide the public 
under Republic Act No. 9485 or the Anti-Red Tape Act. 
SECTION 4, Regional Housing One-Stop Shops. - In the interest of 
improving and centralizing related public services, there is hereby created 
Housing One-Stop Shops for housing-related permits and licenses in all 
regions of the country, which shall be composed of representatives or 
employees of the respective regional offices of the Housing and Land Use 
Regulatory Board (HLURB). Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), the 
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the 
Department of Agriculture (DA). Subject to the implementing rules and 
regulations under Section 11 hereof, officers and representatives of the 


Regional One-Stop Shops shall exercise their usual functions and respective 
mandates under the law, and shall have sufficient authority to accept, process 
and act on applications for housing-related certifications, clearances or permits 
falling within the respective mandates of component agencies, as well as the 
authority to return, deliver and release the approved certifications, clearances 
and permits to the applicants. 
For this purpose, the Regional Field Offices of the Housing and Land 
Use Regulatory Board shall provide for the workspace or station of the 
Housing One-Stop Shops. The official costs and other related official expenses 
necessary to set up and maintain the One-Stop Shops shall be borne by the 
component agencies share and share alike, subject to the implementing rules 
and regulations to be issued under this Act. 
SECTION 5. Simultaneous Processing of Applications. - Whenever 
applicable, feasible or logical, applications for hOUSing-related certifications, 
clearances or permits may be filed simultaneously with the Housing One-Stop 
Shops and the local government units concerned. Thus, notwithstanding the 
provisions of laws, rules and regulations, or issuances to the contrary, local 
government units concerned and each of the housing-related agencies herein 
shall accept and process applications without the need of requiring the 
submission of any housing-related certification, clearance or permit, which are 
not deemed pre-requisites to said applications or when said applications are 
not dependent on the said other certification, clearance or permit. 
SECTION 6. 
Reasonable, Prompt and Transparent Processing of 
Applications. - (a) Where the documentary requirements are complete and in 
order, the agency or LGU concerned. shall accept the applications for 
certification, clearance or permit and shall promptly make a preliminary 
assessment in accordance with Republic Act No. 9485, and proceed to 
process the same. However, where the documentary requirements are 
incomplete, the concerned agency may still accept the application, subject to 
subsequent compliance or completion of the requirements. In case of refusal to 
accept the application, the concerned agency shall issue a written notice to the 
applicant indicating the documentary requirements that are lacking. 
(b) The agencies and LGUs concerned shall resolve the applications 
filed with them within the periods prescribed under Section 8 hereof. After 
determining that the application is meritorious and in order, the agency shall 
promptly issue the certification, clearance or permit. In case of denial or 
rejection of the application, the agency shall promptly issue a written decision 
or order clearly stating all the grounds therefor, with notice to concerned 
parties. 
Where an application is opposed, the agency shall promptly resolve the 
application in accordance with its rules of procedure. To prevent unnecessary 
delay, the agency concerned shall promptly determine whether said opposition 
is patently frivolous, in which case the opposition shall be rejected outright. If 
the opposition is based on valid grounds, the agency shall proceed to resolve 
the application with notice to the applicant, provided that the period for 
resolving the dispute shall not be counted against the agency. 
SECTION 7. Subsequent Compliance; Undertaking to Submit Delayed 
Requirements. - Where an application or request with a particular agency or 
LGU cannot be processed or granted on account of a pending, delayed or 
forthcoming requirement from another agency or LGU, the applicant may, 
unless expressly prohibited by law, be allowed to submit an affidavit or 


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undertaking to submit or file the said requirement within a reasonable time, In 
case the lacking or pending requirement is deemed a pre-requisite or material 
to the application or request. the agency may process or grant the application 
or request on condition that the pre-requisite or material requirement is 
subsequently approved or granted. 
SECTION 8. Time Periods. - The agencies and local government units 
shall dispose of all applications for housing-related certifications, clearances or 
permits within the periods prescribed below: 
1) 
Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) 
a) Certification of Site Zoning Classification - Ten (10) days from 
receipt of complete application 
b) Certificate of Registration and License to Sell (LTS) - Ten (10) 
days from receipt of complete application and compliance with the 
publication requirement 
2) 
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and its attached agencies 
a) Certificate of Eligibility for Reclassification of Agricultural Land -
Thirty (30) days from receipt of complete application 
b) Conversion Order or Exemption Order (under Department of 
Justice Opinion No. 44, series of 1990) -
Thirty (30) days from 
receipt of complete application, including the DA Certificate of 
Eligibility for Reclassification of Agricultural Land and the HLURB 
Certification of Site Zoning Classification of the land subject of the 
application. 
c) 
Certification from the Municipal Agrarian Reform Officer 
(MARO) - Ten (10) days from receipt of complete application 
d) 
Certification from the Center for Land Use Policy, Planning 
and Implementation (CLUPPI) - Thirty (30) days from receipt of 
complete application 
. 
3) 
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and its 
attached agencies 
a) Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECG) -
Forty-five (45) 
days from receipt of complete application 
b) National Integrated Protected Area System (NIPAS) Certification 
- Fifteen (15) days from receipt of complete application 
c) Verification and approval of Survey Returns - Thirty (30) days 
from receipt of complete application 
d) Approval by the Mines and Geosciences Board (MGB) of the 
Engineering Geological and Geohazard Assessment Report 
(EGGAR) - Ten (10) days from receipt of EGGAR 
e) Certification from the Laguna Lake Development Authority 


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(LLDA) - Fifteen (15) days from receipt of complete application 
4) 
Department of Agriculture (DA) and its attached agencies 
a) Certification of Eligibility for Reclassification of Agricultural Land 
under Republic Act No. 8435 - Thirty (30) days from receipt of 
complete application, including Clearance Certifications from the 
National Irrigation Administration, Philippine Coconut Authority, or 
the Sugar Regulatory Administration, when required 
b) Irrigation Clearance Certification from the National Irrigation 
Administration (NIA) - Fifteen (15) days from receipt of complete 
application. 
c) Clearance Certification from the Philippine Coconut Authority 
(PCA) - Fifteen (15) days from receipt of complete application 
d) Clearance Certification from the Sugar Regulatory Administration 
(SRA) - Fifteen (15) days from receipt of complete application 
5) 
Bureau of Internal Revenue 
a) Certificate Authorizing Registration -
Fifteen (15) days from 
payment of the required national internal revenue taxes 
6) 
Local Government Units 
a) Development Permit - Thirty (30) days from receipt of complete 
application 
b) Building Permit -
Fifteen (15) days or thirty (30) days from 
receipt' of complete application, in accordance with Republic Act 
No. 6541 or the National Building Code of the Philippines 
c) Certificate of Occupancy -
Seven (7) days from receipt of 
complete application and payment of fees, in accordance with 
Republic Act No. 6541 or the National Building Code of the 
Philippines 
d) Local transfer tax clearance - Fifteen (i5} days from payment of 
local transfer tax, 
including the BIR Certificate Authorizing 
Registration, when required 
SECTION 9. Prohibition against Unreasonable Penalties and Charges. -
The agencies or LGUs shall be prohibited from imposing penalties and 
charges upon an applicant on account of delay, if it reasonably appears from 
the records that the delay is due to their own or other agencies' or LGUs' 
failure to observe the time periods prescribed hereunder, or due to causes 
beyond the control, or through no fault or negligence of the applicant. 
SECTION 10. Penalties and Sanctions. - Officers and employees who 
shall violate this Act shall be proceeded against in accordance with Section 11 
(a) of Republic Act No. 9485 or the Anti-Red Tape Act. In determining the 


· .. 
person or persons liable, the officers or employees in charge of the One-Stop 
Shops or the frontline service, as well as the head of the particular agency, 
division or unit of the agency in charge of the processing and releasing of the 
housing-related certification, clearance or permit, shall be deemed responsible 
or liable for the violation under this Act. 
Administrative liability shall be enforced in accordance with civil service 
laws, rules and regulations, such as, but not limited to Civil Service 
Commission Resolution No. 99-1936, without prejudice to other civil or criminal 
liabilities for the same act or omission. 
For the purpose of proving liability under this Act, the aggrieved parties 
shall provide the relevant documents and material information. They shall also 
immediately execute an affidavit setting forth in chronological detail the specific 
acts and omissions of the responsible officers and employees, and their 
names, as well as the specific dates thereof and other relevant information. 
SECTION 11. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within thirty (30) 
days from effectivity of this Act, the Chairman of the Housing and Urban 
Development Coordinating Council and the Secretaries of the Department of 
Agrarian Reform, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the 
Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Interior and Local 
Government shall jointly issue the rules and regulations for the effective 
implementation of this Act and the fast-tracking of the approval and 
implementation of housing projects. 
SECTION 12. Pending Applications. - Within thirty (30) days from 
effectivity of this Act, the local government units, the Housing and Land Use 
Regulatory Board, the Department of Agrarian Reform, the Department of 
Environment and Natural Resources, the Department of Agriculture, and their 
related attached agencies, and the Bureau of Internal Revenue shall submit an 
inventory of all pending and unresolved applications and requests with their 
respective offices for housing-related certifications, clearances or permits for 
the prompt disposition of the same. 
SECTION 13. Separabillly Clause. - The provisions of this Act are hereby 
declared to be separable and if any clause, sentence, provision or section of this 
Act or its application thereof to any person or circumstance should, for any 
reason, be held invalid or unconstitutional, such invalidity or unconstitutionality 
shall not affect the other provisions or application of this Act which can be given 
force and effect. 
SECTION 14. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, charters, executive 
orders, administrative orders, proclamations, rules and regulations, or parts 
thereof insofar as they are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby 
repealed or modified accordingly. 
SECTION 15. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after 
completion of publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general 
circulation. 
Approved,