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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. me SEP 09 29 t
‘Quezon City eo aaaee
EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session,
HOUSE BILLNO. **"" 4434

Introduced by Honorable Deogracias Victor “DV” B. Savellano

Explanatory Note

RA No. 10176 was enacted for the purpose of reviving Arbor Day in recognition of
the role and importance of forests in the ecological balance of the environment. The law
recognized further the need to bring back the once lush forests of the country by
institutionalizing a mechanism for collaborative efforts of various sectors of the population in
such efforts. The law gave the Local Government Units (LGUs) the responsibility of
spearheading the tree planting efforts.

To ensure compliance of the provisions of this law, it requires LGUs from the
provinces, cities/municipalities and component barangays to pass a resolution or ordinance
designating a day of the year for the observance of Arbor Day or tree planting/growing. It
also required the LGUs to report to the DILG the day of such Arbor Day observance.
Furthermore, the law mandates the LGUs to allocate a budget to implement the annual tree
planting/growing. It is not known however, if all provinces, cities/municipalities and
‘component barangays have passed such resolutions/ordinances for the observance of Arbor
Day and if the LGUs have been allocating funds for its implementation after 4 years since its
passage. Congress should be informed of the compliance of LGUs on such an important
legislation.

In implementing the intents of the law, each province, city and municipality is
required to create an Arbor Day Celebration Committee the composition of which shall be
selected by the concemed local chief executive. For the LGUs that have not passed the
necessary resolution or ordinance on the observance of Arbor Day it is presumed that they
have not created a Celebration Committee

‘The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) in coordination with the Philippine Coconut
Authority (PCA) are mandated to supply the LGUs with planting materials. The
Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA No. 10176 also required the DENR, the
Department Education (DepED), the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd). the
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) as well as the Liga ng mga Barangay to establish
nurseries and produce planting materials for distribution to LGUs or for their own use. Other
national agencies have also been assigned various tasks in the implementation of the Arbor
Day Law. Again it is not known if these agencies have been performing the tasks that they
have been assigned.


In 1999, the government adopted a strategy for planning and implementing national
programs called convergence initiative (Cl). National Convergence Initiative (NCI) was
formulated as the framework for sustainable rural development and poverty reduction. This
was formalized through the issuance of Joint Memorandum Circular (IMC) No. 01 Series of
1999 signed jointly by the 3 leading government agencies in charge of rural development
focusing on agriculture, agrarian reform and natural resources involving the Department of
Agriculture (DA), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). The implementation of Arbor Day Law could
be an effective vehicle for pursuing the objectives of the national convergence initiative
which are to: 1) facilitate the implementation of different agencies to ensure that resources
are maximized by achieving synergy and institutional efficiency; 2) build partnership
between and among the local communities, LGUs and government agencies to ensure that all
development interventions are based on actual needs and aspirations of the community; 3)
expand opportunities for agro-enterprise and agribusiness development for its constituency;
and 4) achieve spatial integration within different ecosystems to ensure environmental
integrity and sustainability!

There are 81 provinces, 1,490 municipalities and 145 cities and 42,029 barangays? in
the country. Granting that each barangay plant only 1 ha each year and maintain these in
good condition, there would be 42,000 ha of degraded land rehabilitated annually. The issue
here is whether the local government units are implementing the law or are even aware of it.

To achieve the intent and purpose of RA No. 10176 which is to rehabilitate the
denuded forests in order that they will be able to provide needed ecological and
environmental services and to combat the adverse effects of climate change as well as
provide resources for livelihood projects of rural communities, it is earnestly requested that
this Act be approved.

DEOGRACIAS VICTYR “DV” B. SAVELLANO.

* NCI Operations Manual
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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

Eighteenth Congress

First Regular Session

4434
HOUSE BILLNO.

Introduced by: Honorable Deogracias Victor ‘DV’ B. Savellano

An Act Amending Certain Provisions of Republic Act No. 10176 Otherwise Known as
An Act Reviving the Observance of Arbor Day by Authorizing the Local Government
Units the Responsibilities for Celebrating the Day for Tree Planting as an Annual Event
and for Other Purposes

Be enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
Assembled.

SECTION 1. Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Arbor Day Amendment Law”

SECTION 2.Declaration of Policy — t is the policy of the state to provide a healthful
environment by rehabilitating degraded forest land areas, reduce soil erosion, improve soil
fertility, improve land productivity and reduce poverty especially in the rural and upland
areas.

SECTION 3.0bjective — It is the objective of this Act to improve the implementation of
RA No. 10176 otherwise known as the Arbor Day Law of 2012 so as to increase the response
of local government units (LGUs) in implementing the law and improve the efficiency of the
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in supervising and monitoring the
implementation of the law.

SECTION 4. Congressional Oversight Committee — There shall be established a
Congressional Oversight Committee to be co-chaired by the Chair of the Local Government
Committee of the House of Representatives and the Senate, The members shall include the
Chair of the Natural Resources Committee and the Chair of Reforestation Committee of the
House of Representatives and the Chair of the Committee on Natural Resources in the
Senate.

SECTION 5. Duties of the Congressional Oversight Committee — The following are the
duties and functions of the Congressional Oversight Committee:

1. Receive and analyze the annual reports of the Department of Interior and Local
Government on the implementation of RA No. 10176;


2. Identify strategies to encourage LGUs to vigorously implement the Law

SECTION 6. Duties of the Department of Interior and Local Government — \t is the
duty of the Department of Interior and Local Government to monitor the implementation of
RA No. 10176 and report annually to the Congressional Oversight Committee.

SECTION 7. Duties of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources - \t is
the duty of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to provide annually forest
land areas where the LGUs can grow trees or bamboos as implementation of the law. It is
also the duty of the DENR to report to the Congressional Oversight Committee the areas that
it has made available to LGUs for tree/bamboo growing

SECTION 8. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The Department of Interior and
Local Government and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), shall
formulate the implementing rules and regulations of this Act within sixty (60) days after its
approval.

SECTION 9.Separability Clause. — if any provision or part hereof is held invalid or
unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall
remain valid.

SECTION 10.Repealing Clause. ~ Any law, presidential decree or issuance, executive
order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation contrary to or
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, modified or amended
accordingly.

SECTION 11.£ffectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days following its full
publication in the Official Gazette or two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,