Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Quezon City

THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. 272

Introduced by HONORABLE JOSE C. DE VENECIA, JR.

Explanatory Note

Available data from the National Statistics and Coordination Board (NSCB) indicates that of
the total Philippine land area of 30 million hectares, about 10.3 million hectares or 34% are devoted
for agricultural uses, 8.99 million hectares or 30% are woodlands, around 0.54 million hectares o
about 2% ate utilized for establishments (residential and commercial buildings), and 389 hectares or
0.01% for industrial estates. Philippine forests have been steadily decreasing at an average rate of 2%
per annum. From 7.4 million hectares in 1980, there are only 5.4 million hectares left in 1997.

The conversion of agricultural lands to non-agricultural uses has been accelerating in all
regions of the Philippines at an alarming rate. According to the Department of Agriculture, for
ficelands alone, the 3.8 million hectares planted thirty years ago have dropped by 16% to 3.2 million
hectares, Moreover, housing developers and the government are in constant search of land for
residential/settlements development due to increasing urban migration, urban squatting and the
continuing appreciation of land prices.

The country has no Land Use Code that will serve as a sustainable growth map for both
public and private investors. A Land Use Code is necessary for targeting and delineating areas open
for investment in line with the country’s development plans. There is a need for certain lands to be
set aside to establish “agricultural reserves” for food security. The Code is expected, eventually, to
help resolve conflicts arising fom various economic uses of lands versus the housing needs of the
population.

A framework is needed for the allocation, utilization, management and development of the
country’s land resources. There is a need for a Land Use Code that will allocate land to various
competing uses, preserve prime farm lands especially irrigated fields for agricultural purposes, and
ensure community participation in defining local land use.

The bill provides that a National Land Use Framework be established to define the
indicative priorities for land utilization and allocation. A Land Use Policy Administration will also be
created to set national land use planning and zoning guidelines and standards. ‘This will guide local



government units in formulating comprehensive land use plans, and in enacting their zoning
ordinances.

Each city or municipality in urban and urbanizing areas will be mandated to identify and
allocate land within their territorial jurisdiction to ensure the availability of adequate land to meet the
shelter needs of poor residents. These lands can be used as sites for socialized housing pursuant to
RA 7279 or the Urban Development Housing Act of 1992.

Incentives and awards will be offered to local government units to encourage them to
regularly update their land use plans and zoning ordinances. Sanctions and penalties for non-
compliance with the Land Use Code will also be provided for in the bill.

In view of the foregoing, immediate approval of this bill is requested.

E C. DE VENEQAA, JR.


Republic of the Philippines
House of Representatives
‘Quezon City

THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

272

House Bil__*

eee

Introduced by HONORABLE JOSE C. DE VENECIA, JR.

a

AN ACT CREATING A NATIONAL LAND USE CODE,
PROVIDING IMPLEMENTING MECHANISMS THEREFOR AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES

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

SECTION 1. Title. - This Act shall be known as the National Land Use Code of 2004.

SEC. 2, Declaration of Policies and Principles. - 1tis declared the policy of the State to:

{@) Provide for and implement a rational, holistic and just allocation,
utilization, consetvation, control, management and development of the country’s
remaining and existing land resources;

(©) ensure food security and sufficiency, and environmental protection;

(© tationalize population distribution and settlements developments;

(@ intervene in cases when lands necessary for agricultural production and when
ecological systems are endangered. These areas shall be non-negotiable for
conversion to other uses;

(© ensure equitable access to country’s land resources;

identify and preserve areas and structure which form part of our national and local
heritage;

(@® uphold the communal system of land utilization and protection; and

(h) provide for the legal framework for land use planning as a major area for
development planning,

SEC. 3. Definition of Terms.- For purposes of and as used in this Act, the following
terms shall be defined as follows:

@) Food Security - availability, accessibility and affordability of food for
present and future generation of Filipinos in a sustainable manner.


(0) Food Self-Sufficiency - meeting the country’s food requirements through
intensive food production in a sustainable manner, based on the country’s
existing and potential resource endowments and related
production advantages;

(© Land Use - the rational utilization of land, including its allocation,
protection, rehabilitation, development and management,

(@ Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) —a document embodying
a set of policies accompanied by maps and similar illustrations which
represent the community-desited population distribution and a permanent,
defined and controlled allocation of land primarily for protection and
production, as well as future allocation of remaining lands, not intended for
protection and production, for other land-using activities. Likewise it identifies
the location, character and extent of the area’s land resources, including present
land areas that need immediate attention such as reforestation, disaster
mitigation and agricultural development in determining other uses of land aside
from protection and production;

© Land Use Planning - the act of defining in permanence the allocation,
utilization, development and management of lands designated for protection and
production, and providing guidelines for the utilization of other existing and
remaining lands within a given territory or jurisdiction intended for other uses;

() Land Use Policy Administration (LUPA) - an administrative,
regulatory, quasi-judicial body provided for under this Act;

@ Environmentally-Critical Areas - refer to areas declared by law as: (1) areas
for natural parks, watershed reserves, wildlife preserves, and sanctuaries; (2)
areas set aside as aesthetic potential tourist spots; (3) areas which constitute the
habitat for any endangered or threatened species of indigenous Philippine flora
and fauna; (4) areas of unique historic, archaeologic, or scientific interests; (5)
areas which are traditionally occupied by indigenous peoples communities as
provided for in Republic Act No. 8371; (6) areas with critical slopes; (7) areas
frequently visited and/or hard hit by natural calamities such as geologic hazards,
floods, typhoons and volcanic activities; (8) areas classified as prime agricultural
lands; (9) recharge areas or aquifers; (10) water bodies; and (11) coral reefs;

(h) Disaster Prone Areas - areas in the country located along the typhoon
belts and the Philippine Fault System, areas that are threatened by volcanic
eruptions, drought, severe flooding, storm surges, soil erosion and landslides;

@ Administration - as proposed in this Act refers to the Land Use
Policy Administration (LUPA);

@ Zoning - the regulatory tool for delineating the specific uses of
lands in accordance with the approved CLUP within the territorial jurisdiction
of a city/municipality and specifying conditions for their regulation, subject to
the limitations imposed by-law and competent authority; and

@® Zoning Ordinance or ZO - a local legislation passed by the sanguniang
pambayan or panglunsod approving the development control/zoning
plan, in accordance with an approved or adopted CLUP for the city/
municipality.

SEC. 4. National Land Use Policy Framework. - The State shall define and determine,
through a national land use development plan, certain uses of land that must be put in petmanence


in furtherance of the objectives set forth. This provision shall institutionalize existing policies on
areas that are non-negotiable for conversion such as those included in but not limited to the
National Network of Protected Agriculture Areas. In this light, the plan shall give priority for the
protection and production uses of land.

(@) Protection land use - shall refer to the State’s intervention in ensuring the
rehabilitation, conservation, sustainable development, management and control
of the following areas: (1) areas declared as belonging to the National Integrated
Protected Areas (NIPAS) System per R.A. 7586; (2) areas formerly declared as
forested lands or forest reserves but have been diminished by illegal human
activities such as logging, settlements/occupation, unsustainable farming and
other forms of destructive livelihood such as charcoal-making; (3) areas that need
to be protected and rehabilitated but are outside the NIPAS; (4) areas prone to
natural disasters; and, (5) ancestral domain lands as provided for by R.A. No.
8371.

() Production land use ~ Production land use shall refer to the State's
intervention in identifying and setting aside specific lands for food and
agricultural production. Using the network of areas for agricultural development,
the DA and DAR, in consultation with concerned local government units,
ptivate sector and communities shall identify key production areas for tice and
corm and shall be set aside to achieve 100 percent self sufficiency. It shall likewise
identify and delineate at the city and municipal levels a network of protected
areas for agricultural development which shall be non-negotiable for conversion
and which shall, in principle, be protected from encroachment and conversion to
other uses to ensure that lands are efficiently and sustainably used for food
production, and thereby help achieve food security. The specific types of land
shall include, but shall not be limited to the following: (1) All irrigated and
potentially irrigable areas; (2) All alluvial plain lands that are suitable for
agricultural production and/or can be devoted to food production; (3) All
sustainable lands that are traditional sources of food; (4) All crop lands required
to attain a certain scale of production to sustain the economic viability of existing
agro-based industries in the municipality, city or province; (5) All lands in areas
not highly prone to natural hazards that ate suitable for the production of tree
crops and other cash crops; (6) All CARPable lands including those lands
covered under Notice of Compulsory Acquisition/Voluntary Offer to Sell,
Production or Profit Sharing and Commercial Farm Deferment of the CARP.

‘The DA and DAR shall review the status of utilization of the above priority areas for
agricultural development and submit its recommendation duly endorsed by the concerned local land
use committees for any change in priority to the Administration for review and approval

The network of protected areas for agricultural development shall be the basis for
the rationalization of land use for other purposes.

Other uses not within the purview of protection and production land uses shall be
decided upon by the regional, provincial, city and municipal government units.


SEC. 5. Coverage. - This National Land Use Code shall cover all alienable and disposable
lands, including all privately titled lands. It shall also include land originally declared as forest lands
and forested lands that have been diminished due to destructive man-made and illegal activities such
as logging in areas declared to be under a commercial log ban, squatting and the practice of
unsustainable practices and livelihood. Such areas, however, shall be reserved mainly for
reforestation and production land use purposes, except when otherwise declated by law.

SEC. 6. National Land Use Development Planning. - Standards and guidelines on land
use shall be set at the national level for major island groupings based on available data provided by
the existing mapping program. The land use planning shall include among others the implementing
rules and regulations of this Act.

‘The LUPA shall, in consultation with the concerned sectors through mandatory conduct of
public hearings, formulate national land use planning and zoning guidelines and standards, which
shall guide LGUs in formulating their CLUPs and enacting their ZOs

Provincial Physical Framework Plans shall define the objectives, strategies and indicative
uses of land and other physical resources within the context of the province, consistent with the
national and regional objectives and strategies and shall serve as basis for the preparation of the land
use plans of its component cities and municipalities. Provided however, that protection and
production land use guidelines provided for in the NPFP shall strictly be the bases in determining
lands for protection and production that shall be included in the land use plan.

City or Municipal land use plans shall translate the objectives, strategies and indicative uses
of land and other physical resources proposed in the NPFP, RPFP, and PPEP into specific uses and
shall serve as basis for the preparation of the zoning plan to include embodiment of local aspirants
concerning desirable physical development and growth of the locality. Provided however, that
protection and production land use guidelines provided for in the NPFP shall strictly be the bases in
determining lands for protection and production that shall be included in the land use plan

SEC. 7. Local Land Use Planning and Zoning. - The CLUPs of cities and municipalities
shall be formulated in consonance with the results of mandatory consultations with the various
sectors in the community and subject to nationally prescribed standards. Zoning shall cover all
alienable and disposable lands, government owned lands, and private lands in territorial jurisdiction
of the city or municipality incorporating those declared protected areas. The zoning plan and
ordinance of LGUs shall be based on their approved respective CLUPS. All municipalities and cities
shall prepare and enact their respective CLUPs and ZOs within one year from the effectivity of this
Act.

SEC. 8. Reconstitution of the HLRB and Composition of the Land Use Policy
Administration. — To implement the provisions of this Act, the Housing and Land Use Regulatory
Board (HLRB) shall within a period of six (6) months from the effectivity of this Act, be
reconstituted into a new body, to be known as the Land Use Policy Administration (LUPA), herein
referred to as the Administration, attached to the Office of the President, the members of which
shall be as follows:

(@) The Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, as Chairman;
(b) The Secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform, as Co-Chairman;
(© The Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority;



@ The Secretaries of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Natural
Resources, Tourism, Public Works and Highways, Interior and Local Government,
Energy, Science and Technology, Transportation and Justice;

(©) The Chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council;
and,

(OThe Secretary-General of the Commission, who shall be appointed by the
President and shall have a cabinet rank.

A consultative body will be established composed of the representatives from the private
sector, non-government and people's organizations, the academic community and the indigenous
cultural community. It shall regularly meet and coordinate to discuss the implementation of this
Act, as well as issues that will be raised by sectors that may be affected by the implementation of
this Act.

SEC. 9. Qualifications of the Sectetary-General. - The Sectetaty-General must
have a background or significant training preferably in the field of Environmental and/or Physical
Planning, Urban and Regional Planning, Environmental Science, Land Resources Management,
Development Planning and Management for a period of at least five (5) years. He/she must have
held a permanent Career Executive position during the period he/she was practicing the above-
mentioned professions.

SEC. 10. Central and Regional Offices The Administration may organize at the
central and regional levels such line and/or staff offices as may be necessary for it to be able to
effectively discharge its policy-making, planning, enforcement, investigative and adjudicatory
functions. Line functions shall be headed by Bureau or Regional Directors, while staff functions
shall be headed by Division Chiefs.

SEC. 11. Responsibilities of the Land Use Policy Administration (LUPA).

(@) Review and revise the National Physical Framework Plan for the years 1993-
2002 prepared by the National Economic Development Authority into national
guidelines governing protection and production land uses that will be
implemented in the regional, provincial and municipal level. This will include
translating the Philippine Development Plans into physical and spatial terms
and serve as guide for, as well as integrate and consolidate, the land use plans
and classification schemes of all agencies and instrumentalities of government;

() Undertake and/or promote the gathering of data, the conduct of studies and the
development and application of technology pertaining to land use planning and
real estate management, including studies on the management of identified
production, protection and other areas;

(© Review, formulate and recommend to the President and the NEDA Board,
policies and guidelines on land use and physical planning and real estate
management; and land classifications, inventory and information systems;

(@ Promulgate, in consultation with all concemed sectors, national and regional
standards and guidelines, on land use and physical planning, real estate
development, and zoning, which shall be observed by all agencies, offices and
instrumentalities of the national and local governments, and the private sector in


the formulation and implementation of their respective plans, programs and
projects;

(©) Review the physical framework and/or land use plans adopted by provinces and
highly-urbanized and independent cities, to ensure their consistency with the
national and regional physical framework plans and its standards, regulations
and guidelines; relative thereto, it may approve any such plans as a-whole or in
parts, and require such revision or modification thereof as may be necessary. No
such plan shall become effective and implementable until and unless approved
by the Administration; however, after the lapse of 100 days from receipt
thereof, all land use plans duly submitted by the local government units shall be
deemed approved whether or not acted upon by the Administration.

(D Issue rules and regulations to enforce compliance with the provisions of this
Act, and the rules, standards and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto,
unless another agency has been tasked by specific provisions hereof, as well as
other existing laws on land use planning and zoning and real estate
development; and adopt appropriate systems and procedures for investigating
and ensuring compliance therewith;

@ Initiate, develop, encourage, promote and support, in coordination with other
agencies concerned, the establishment of a unified or synchronized and
simplified data base, records management, mapping and regulatory system,
procedures and mechanisms for land use and physical planning, real estate
management and regulation of other land rights and interests, for the purpose
of accelerating and attainment of identified flagship or critical priority projects
of the government that involve physical components;

(h) Issue locational clearances and development permits to land use and
development projects considered by NEDA to be of national or regional

significance;

Issue motu propio, after the conduct of appropriate investigation, notices of

violation, cease and desist and/or closure and demolition orders, ejectment and

summary abatement orders, and impose the administrative fines set forth in this

Act, in cases where any establishment, entity or enterprise is found to have

violated any provision of this Act, or of any rule, standatd ot regulation, or of

any order, decision or resolution of the Administration;

Heat and decide cases and complaints for violation of any provision of this Act,

or its implementing rules, standards and regulations and ordinances of the

national and local governments, relating to land use classification and planning,
development, management and zoning; and award damages incident thereto or
arising therefrom;

() Hear and resolve conflicts in land use planning, classification, and allocation

that may arise between agencies of the national government, and/or between

national and local, national and regional, and/or regional and local planning of
development agencies, including local governments;

Act as appellate body from decisions of provincial planning bodies on local land

use plans and zoning ordinances, as well as decisions of local zoning boards of

appeals granting or denying applications for locational clearances or zoning
certificates;

6

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@


(en) Adopt rules of procedures for the exercise of the regulatory and quasi-judicial
powers as well as for the orderly and expeditious conduct of meetings and other
business of the Administration;

(0) Coordinate with, and assist other government agencies and instrumentalities as
well as the private sector in planning, developing and implementing their land
use classification, and real estate development programs, and to furnish, to the
extent possible, technical assistance and guidance,

(©) Coordinate with other government agencies, sixty (60) days after its
establishment, to accomplish the following:

1. Mapping:

a) of all agricultural lands declared as non-negotiable for conversion
pursuant to the guidelines provided for in Administrative Order No. 20
entitled: Interim Guidelines on Agricultural Land Use Conversion and
the Network of Protected Areas for Agriculture;

b) of all existing forest lands, forest limits, national parks, and other
ecological systems (water bodies and wildlife habitat) including
endangered ecosystems;

2. Review:

a) guidelines governing Environmental Compliance Certificates (ECCs) to
include subdivisions and golf courses;

b) the list, for possible expansion, of Environmentally Critical Area
provided for in Proclamation Certain Areas and Types of Projects as
Environmentally Critical and Within the Scope of the Environmental
Impact System Established under Presidential Decree No. 1586
Establishing an Environmental Impact Statement System including
Other Environmental Management Related Measures and For Other
Purposes);

©) applications and on-going land use conversion activities vis-a-vis the
policies governing special economic zones, industrial estates and the
like; and,

4) the coverage of the NIPAS and the Integrated Forestry Management
Agreements,

SEC. 12. Offices, Units and Staff Support. - The Administration shall be assisted by a
secretariat and such other technical, legal and administrative support staff organized into such
central and regional offices as may be deemed necessary by the Administration, under the general
supervision of the Sectetary-General.

SEC. 13. Land Development Councils. - ‘The formulation of the CLUP shall be the
primary responsibility of the Local Development Councils (LDCs). The LGUs without existing
LDCs as mandated by RA 7160 shall create their respective LDCs within one year ftom the
effectivity of this Act.

Local land use committees pertain to the provincial, city or municipal land use committees
formed by the LDCs. Existing and newly formed LDCs shall create within one year from the
effectivity of this Act or from their creation as the case may be, a Local Land Use Committee to
assist them in performing such functions as defined in this Act. Membership therein must, among



others, include representatives from concerned NGOs and POs such as but not limited to peasants,
fisherfolk, urban poor and indigeneous cultural communities.

Until such time that the LUPA shall have created its counterpart committees at the
regional level, the Regional Land Use Committees under the Regional Development Councils shall
act as the counterpart of the LUPA and perform such functions as defined in this Act.

SEC. 14, Responsibilities of Other National Government Agencies, - All concerned
national government agencies/bodies especially those with specific functions in land use and land
‘management shall periodically report to the Commission on the various activities and
accomplishments relative to land use. Likewise, they shall provide technical and administrative
support, if called upon by the Administration relative to the implementation of the provisions of
this Act.

SEC. 15. Imposition of Penalty for Premature Conversion. - Any person who
knowingly, or deliberately causes any agricultural lands within the priority areas for agricultural
development, as specified in Section2, paragraph 2.2 of this Act, to become economically
unproductive and inutile for continued agricultural activities, and not due to any natural causes so
as to satisfy the provision of Section 114(a) thereof and/or undertakes premature conversion of any
agricultural lands shall be punished by imprisonment of not less than two (2) months to not more
than ten (10) years or a fine of five hundred thousand (P500,000.00) pesos for the first three (3)
hectares, and one hundred thousand (P100,000.00) pesos for each additional hectare or fraction
thereof, or both at the discretion of the court.

Furthermore, such actions would cause the termination of the project or activity to be
undertaken and suspension of the project proponent from undertaking any land development
activity in the city or municipality.

SEC. 16. Penalty for Other Prohibited Acts. - Any person initiating, or causing,
inducing, or abetting the violation of any prohibitory provision of this Act, shall, upon conviction,
be imprisoned from six (6) months to not more than six (6) years or a fine starting at a minimum of
twenty-five thousand (P25, 000.00) pesos but not more than one hundred fifty thousand (P150,
000.00) pesos at a maximum, or both at the discretion of the court. However, acts prohibited in
this Act which are already punishable under existing local ordinances shall not be subjected to the
penalty provided herein.

SEC. 17. Convening of the Administration. - Within thisty (30) days upon the effectivity
of the Act, the Secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform, as Chairman of the
Administration, shall convene the Administration. The Chief Executive Officer of the HLRB shall
sit temporarily as a member of the Administration until such time that a regular Secretary General
of the Administration has been appointed by the President,

SEC. 18. Review, Formulation and Issuance of Rules and Regulations. - Immediately
after its formation, the Administration shall review existing rules and regulations on land use, and
based therefrom, revise such rules and regulations, or cause concerned agencies to revise them for
the efficient and effective implementation of the provisions of this Act. All concemed national
government agencies and bodies shall inform the Administration of the status of the
implementation of such rules and regulations.



oa

Unless provided in this Act, the Administration shall be primarily responsible for the
promulgation and issuance of all implementing rules and regulations, including planning guidelines
and standards which will take into consideration the unique physical and cultural character and
needs of different regions /localities. These rules and regulations shall become effective fifteen (15)
days after their publication in the Official Gazette and announcement of their adoption in at least
one (1) newspaper of general circulation.

All existing rules and regulations shall be in force and effect unless revoked by the
Administration or competent authority

SEC. 19. Repealing Clause. - All general and special laws, acts, decrees, executive orders,
proclamations and administrative regulations, or any parts thereof which are inconsistent with this
Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly, except Executive Order 648, Executive Order 72,
Republic Act 7279, and Executive Order 124.

SEC. 20. Separabilicy Clause. - If, for any reason ot reasons, any parts or provisions of
this Act shall be declared or held to be unconstitutional or invalid, other parts ot provisions hereof
which are not affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect.

SEC. 21, Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in at least ewo (2) newspapers of general citculation.

Approved,