Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

16" CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILLNO.__ 2041

Introduced by REP. EVELINA G. ESCUDERO

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Section 4, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution states that “The Congress
shall, as soon as possible, determine by law, the specific limits of forest lands and national
parks, marking clearly their boundaries on the ground. Thereafter, such forest lands and
national parks shall be conserved and may not be increased nor diminished, except by
law. The Congress shall provide, for such period as it may determine, measures to
prohibit logging in endangered forests and watershed areas”.

Based on the 2001-2003 satellite imageries reported out by the National
Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA), the Philippines has
an estimated total forest cover of 7.168 million hectares or 24.27% of the
country’s total land area.

The actual size of the forest lands cannot be accurately measured due to
lack of appropriate demarcations on the ground which later resulted to incorrect
land use and management.

In this light, this bill delineating the specific limits of forest lands is being
filed to conserve, protect and develop the forest resources of the country and to
to attain ecological balance, preserve valuable ecosystems, prevent
environmental degradation and promote sustainable development for the
present and future generations.

I submit.

“EVELINA G. ESCUDERO


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

16" CONGRESS
First Regular Session

041

HOUSE BILL NO. 2

Introduced by REP. EVELINA G, ESCUDERO

AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR THE DELINEATION OF THE SPECIFIC FOREST LIMITS OF
THE PUBLIC DOMAIN AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

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 and cited as the “Final Forest
Limits Act”.

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. ~ It is the policy of the State to conserve, protect and
develop the forest resources of the country in order to attain ecological balance,
preserve valuable ecosystems, prevent environmental degradation and promote
sustainable development for the present and future generations. To achieve these ends,
Section 4 of Article XII of the 1987 Constitution mandates Congress to determine by law
the specific limits of forestlands and national parks marking clearly their boundaries on
the ground.

SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. - For purposes of this Act, the following terms shall
mean:

(@) Agricultural lands refer to alienable or disposable lands of the public
domain which have been the subject of the land classification system and declared as
not needed for forest purposes;

(b) Delimitation survey refers to the establishment of land classification
boundaries, and the monumenting thereof following ground survey;

(6) Delineation refers to the conduct of site investigation, field reconnaissance
and assessment, and staking of boundaries between forest lands, national parks and
agricultural lands verified in the field in accordance with the criteria set forth under
Department of Environment and Natural Resources Administrative Order No. 2008-24;

(d) Forest refers to an ecosystem or an assemblage of econsystems dominated
by trees and other woody vegetation; a community of plants and animals interacting
with one another and its physical environment;

(c) Forest lands refer to all lands of the public domain already classified as forest
land as per existing land classification maps issued by the Department of Environment
and Natural Resources (DENR) including all permanent forest reserves proclaimed as.

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such by the President or declared by law, and such areas within the unclassified lands
of the public domain that were assessed and delineated by the DENR in accordance
with pertinent laws, rules and regulations;

(f) Production forest refers to a forest area designated primarily for production
of wood, fiber, bio-energy and/or non-wood forest products;

(g) Protected Area refers to identified portions of land and/or water set aside by
reason of their unique physical and biological significance, managed to enhance
biological diversity and protected against destructive human exploitation.

(h) Protection forest refers to a forest whose value lies in the regulating of stream
flow and the preventing of erosion and avalanches rather than in its timber;

(i) Protection forestlands refer to all areas within the forestlands devoted primarily
for the protection, conservation of forest resources to ensure environmental stability,
conservation of biological diversity, improvement of ecosystem functions and se
and provision of ecological and economic benefits shall constitute the protection
forestlands. All mossy and primary/old growth forests and natural beach, key
biodiversity areas, areas regardless of slope and vegetation cover which are highly
erodible or too rocky for establishment of either production forests, developed for the
principal objectives of establishing vegetative cover to prevent erosion, conserve water
and nurture wildlife, freshwater, swamps, and marshes, all areas along the bank of the
rivers and streams, and the shores of the seas and lakes throughout their entire length
and within the zone of three (3) meters in urban areas, twenty (20) meters in
agricultural areas, and forty (40) meters in forest areas, along their margins which are
subject to the easement of public use in the interest of recreation, settlements,
navigation, floatage, fishing and salvage shall also be sub-classified as protection
forestlands. Cutting and mining are banned in these protection forestlands: Provided,
‘That the provisions of the IPRA Law and NIPAS Act shall be respected.

vices,

(i) Tenured migrant refers to forest occupants who have actually and continuously
occupied a portion of the forest and is solely dependent therein for subsistence. A forest
occupant is understood to be “solely dependent for subsistence” when everything
indispensable for survival for the household, including food, clothing, shelter and
health, comes only from the utilization of resources from the forest.

SEC. 4. What Constitutes the Forest Lands. - The following shall constitute the
forest lands, to wit:

(a) all lands of the public domain already classified as forest land as per
existing land classification miaps issued by the DENR;

(b) all permanent forest reserves proclaimed as such by the President or
declared by law; and

(©) such areas within the unclassified lands of the public domain that were
assessed and delineated by the DENR in accordance with pertinent laws, rules and
regulations and which may hereafter be classified as forest land by the DENR.

SEC. 5. Guidelines in Determining the Specific Limits of Forest Lands. ~ The following
guidelines and procedures shall be followed in determining the specific limits of forest
lands in the country:


(@) The previously-established Land Classification (LC) survey lines per
province with their respective technical descriptions (TDs) and maps shall be the basic
data and information that will be used as reference material in undertaking the
validation, assessment and delineation proces

(b) All completed assessment and delineation reports for a given province
shall be endorsed to the National Review and Evaluation Committee as created herein
to be headed by the Secretary of the DENR for final approval.

(©) The same process shall be followed for other provinces with on-going
assessments and delineation activities until such time that all the boundaries of forest
lands of the whole country shall have been delimited: Provided, That all assessments,
validations and delineations shall be completed not later than one (1) year after the
passage of this Act.

SEC. 6. Creation of the National Review and Evaluation Committee. ~ In recognition
of the Constitutional mandate as embodied in Section 4, Article XII thereof, and in view
of the urgent need to establish the permanent limits of the forest lands of the country, a
National Review and Evaluation Committee is hereby created to process, evaluate and
approve all completed assessment and delineation reports referred to in the
immediately preceding section, The Committee, in its evaluation and approval of the
said reports, shall adhere strictly to existing established laws, policies, rules, regulations
and guidelines pertinent thereto.

‘The Committee shall be composed of the following:

(a) Secretary of the DENR as Chairman;

(b) Secretary of the Socioeconomic Planning and Director-General of the
National Economic and Development Authority as Vice-Chairman;

(&) Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) as
Member;

(d) Secretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA) as Member;

(c) Secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) as Member;

(Q Chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating

Council (HUDCC) as Member; and
(g) Chairman of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP)

as Member; and
(h) President of the League of Provinces of the Philippines as Member.

Upon approval of the assessment and delineation reports as herein specified, the
Committee shall submit the same to Congress which shall thereafter form part of its
official records. The assessment and delineation reports as approved by the Committee
shall be adopted as constituting the final boundaries of the forest lands covered by the
said report.

SEC. 7. Demarcation and Delimitation of Forest Land Boundary. - Immediately after
the forest line has been determined following the guidelines prescribed in Section 5
hereof, the DENR shall delimit and establish the permanent boundary monuments on
the ground.

SEC. 8. Permanency of the Specific Forest Limits. -- The permanent forest lands
established pursuant to this Act shall not be diminished nor reduced except by an act of
Congress. The DENR, in coordination with all agencies and branches of government,
shall see to it that the forest cover and vegetation therein shall be protected, preserved
and enhanced.



SEC. 9. Sub-classification of the Permanent Forest Lands. - The permanent
forest lands shall be further sub-classified as follows: (a) protection forests; and (b)
production forests.

After due consultation with the local government units (LGUs), concerned
communities, and other stakeholders, the DENR shall undertake the sub-
classification of the permanent forest lands.

SEC. 10. Recognition of the Rights of the Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous
Peoples and Tenured Migrant Communities. - In the ground delineation of the permanent
forest limits, the occupation by indigenous cultural communities/indigenous peoples
and tenured migrants shall be recognized and respected consistent with the provisions
of Republic Act No. 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991, Republic Act No. 8371
or the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997, and Presidential Decree No. 705,
as amended, or the Forestry Code of 1975.

SECTION 11. Accessibility of Record to the Public. - All records and information
pertaining to the specific forest limits delineated pursuant to this Act shall be made
available to all local government units (LGUs), other government agencies, and to the
general public.

SECTION 12, Implementing Rules and Regulations. ~ Within three (3) months from
the effectivity of this Act, the Secretary of the DENR shall issue the corresponding
Implementing Rules and Regulations for the effective implementation of this Act

SECTION 13. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting System. ~ To attain the
objectives of this Act, a field monitoring, evaluation, and reporting system shall be
adopted by the Secretary of the DENR to regularly keep track of the state of the
country’s forest lands after their delimitation. Toward this end, at the opening of each
session of Congress, the DENR shall submit a report to the President on the status of the
forest lands for transmission to Congress.

SEC. 14. Creation of the Adjudication Board to Resolve Controversies on Land
Classification Conflicts. - A Land Classification Conflict Adjudication Board, herein
referred to as the Board, is hereby created to resolve controversies arising from land
classification as a result of the delimitation of forest lands pursuant to this Act. The
Board shall be composed of the following:

(a) Secretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ) as Chairman;
(b) Administrator of the Land Registration Authority (LRA) as Member;

(0) Representative from the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) as Member;
(d) Representative from a reputable College of Forestry as Member; and

(c) Representative from the private sector as Member.

SEC. 15. Powers and Functions of the Adjudication Board. - The Board shall have the
following powers and functions:

(1) Adjudicate cases on land conflicts and adverse claim before it for resolution;

(2) Summon witnesses, administer oaths, take testimony and require submission
of reports;

(3) Compel production of books and documents and answers to interrogatories;
and

(4) Issue subpoena duces tecum, writs of possession, writs of execution and other
writs to enforce its orders and decisions.


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In any proceeding before the Board, the Rules of Evidence prevailing in courts
of law or equity shall not be controlling and it is the spirit and intention of this Act
that shall govern. The Board shall use every and all reasonable means to ascertain the
facts in each case speedily and objectively and without regard to technicalities of law
or procedure, all in the interest of due process, In any proceeding before the Board,
the parties may be represented by legal counsel. The findings of fact of the Board
shall be conclusive and binding on the parties and its decision or order shall be final
and executory,

SEC. 16. Appropriations. - The Secretary of the DENR shall include in the
Department program the implementation of this Act, the initial funding of which shall
be charged against the current year’s appropriations of the Department and thereafter
included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

Funds for the implementation of the provisions of this Act shall be supplemented
also from any available official development assistance (ODA) and from joint projects
between agencies of the Philippines and an assisting country.

Local government units shall also allocate counterpart funds to be taken from
their internal revenue allotment (IRA) and other LGU income for the delineation of the
forest limits within their respective territorial jurisdictions.

SEC. 17. Separability Clause. — If any portion of this Act is declared
unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity and effectivity of the other
provisions not affected thereby.

SEC. 18. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, letters of instruction, executive
orders, rules and regulations and other issuances or parts thereof inconsistent with this
Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 19. Effectivity. ~ This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its complete
publication in the Official Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general circulation in the
Philippines.

Approved,