Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila
SIXTEENTH CONGRESS

First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 3578

Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE MARIA LOURDES ACOSTA-ALBA

EXPLANATORY NOTE

One of the key legislative agenda of the Aquino administration under
the Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016 is the passage of a permanent
forestline bill. This policy intends to provide the specific boundaries limits of
forestlands per province delineating areas in which no other land use may
prevail.

This proponent is re-filing House Bill No, 5860 (as per Committee
Report No. 1870), a consolidation of House Bills No, 2944 and 5112
previously filed by Reps. Rufus B. Rodriguez and Maximo B. Rodriguez, and
Rep. Angelo B. Palmones, respectively, in the 15th Congress.

This measure puts flesh to the Constitutional mandate of providing for
specific boundaries of forest and protected areas, with the objective of
conserving and protecting these areas from further degradation. This
measure establishes a National Review and Evaluation Committee to review,
assess, and validate existing boundaries of forest lands, and shall
recommend to Congress such boundaries.

In view of the foregoing, the immediate passage of this bill is earnestly

sought.
tht LOURDES TENTED

First District, Bukidnon

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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila
SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No, 38578

Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE MARIA LOURDES ACOSTA-ALBA

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 House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Permanent
Forest Limits Act of 2013”.

SECTION 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, Article XII
of the Constitution mandates Congress to determine, by law, specific limits
of forest lands, marking clearly their boundaries on the ground. Such
boundaries may not be increased, but not diminished, except by an Act of
Congress.

SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. ~ As used in this Act:

(a) Agricultural land refers to alienable and disposable lands of the
public domain devoted to or suitable for the cultivation of the soil; planting
of crops; growing of fruit trees; raising of livestock; poultry, fish or aqua-
culture production; including the harvesting of such farm products; and
other farm activities and practices performed in conjunction with such
farming operations done by persons whether natural or juridical and not
classified by law as mineral land, forest land, residential land, commercial
land, or industrial land;

(b) Alienable and disposable lands of the public domain refers to lands
of the public domain which have been delineated, classified, and certified as
such and available for disposition under Commonwealth Act No.141,
otherwise known as the “Public Land Act,” as amended;

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(c) Delimitation Survey shall refer to the establishment of land
classification boundaries, and the monumenting thereof following ground
survey;

(d) Delineation shall refer to the conduct of site investigation, field
reconnaisance 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 (DENR) Administrative Order No, 2008-24, or any of its
successor policies;

() Forest Lands shall refer to all lands of the public domain already
classified as forest land as per existing land classification maps issued by
the DENR, including 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;

( Protected Area shall refer 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;

SECTION 4. Guidelines in Determining Specific Limits of Forest
Lands. - The following guidelines and procedures shall be followed in
determining specific limits of forest lands in the country:

(a) Previously established land classification 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 validation, assessment, and delineation processes.

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

(c) The same process shall be followed for other provinces with on-
going assessments and delineation activities until such time that all
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.

SECTION 5. Creation of the National Review and Evaluation
Committee. - 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 strictly
adhere to existing established laws, policies, rules, regulations, and
guidelines pertinent thereto.

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The Committee shall be composed of the following:
(a) Secretary of the DENR, Chairman;

(b)_ Socio-economic Planning Secretary/Director General of the
National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), Vice Chairman;

(c) Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government,
Member;

(d) Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Member;
(e) Secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform, Member; and

() The Dean of the College of Forestry of the University of the
Philippines, Member.

Upon approval of the assessment and delineation reports, 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 by Congress, through a joint
resolution of both Houses, as constituting the final boundaries of the forest
lands covered by the said report.

SECTION 6. Demarcation and Delimitation of Final Forest Land
Boundary. - Immediately after the permanent forest line has been
determined following the guidelines prescribed in Section 4 hereof, the
DENR shall delimit and establish permanent boundary monuments on the
ground.

SECTION 7. Permanency of the Specific Forest Limits. - The
permanent forest lands established pursuant to this Act shall be conserved
and shall not be increased nor diminished except by an Act of Congress. The
DENR, in coordination with all concerned agencies and branches of
government, shall ensure that the forest cover and other resources therein
shall be protected and enhanced.

SECTION 8. Recognition of the Rights of Upland Dwellers. -
Consistent with the provisions of Republic Act No. 7160 (“Local Government
Code of 1991”) and Republic Act No. 8371 (“Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of
1997”), the rights of the indigenous cultural communities and other upland
dwellers shall be recognized and respected in the ground delineation of the
permanent forest lines. Prior to the assessment and validation of the forest
lines, the Committee shall consult with the affected indigenous cultural
communities, as provided for in Republic Act No. 8371.

SECTION 9. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting System. - To
attain the objectives of this Act, a field monitoring, evaluation, and reporting
system shall be adopted by the DENR Secretary to regularly keep track of
the state of the country’s forest lands after their delineation. Towards this

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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.

SECTION 10. Creation of an Adjudication Board to Resolve
Controversies on Land Conflicts and Adverse Claims. - A Land Conflict
Adjudication Board is hereby created to resolve controversies arising from
boundary conflicts and adverse claims 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, Chairman;
(b) Representative from the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Member;

(c) Administrator of the Land Registration Authority, or any of its
successor agency, Member; and

(d) Representative from the private sector, Member: Provided, however,
That the representative from the private sector shall be a disinterested
person with no current or foreseeable interest in timber or forest-related
industries.

The Board shall have the following powers and functions:

(a) Adjudicate cases on land conflicts and adverse claims arising from
the implementation of this Act brought before it for resolution;

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

(c) Compel production of books and document answers to
interrogations; and

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

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. Congressional Oversight Committee on the
Delineation of Permanent Forest Limits. ~ There is hereby created a
Congressional Oversight Committee to oversee the implementation of this
‘Act, composed of seven (7) members from the Senate Committee on
Environment and Natural Resources, and seven (7) members from the
House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources.

‘The Congressional Oversight Committee shall be in existence for a
period of five (5) years, and thereafter, its oversight functions shall be

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exercised by the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources,
and the House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources, acting
separately. The secretariat of the Congressional Oversight Committee shall
come from the Secretariat personnel of the committees of the Senate and the
House of Representatives comprising the Congressional Oversight
Committee.

SECTION 13. Appropriations. - The DENR Secretary shall include
the implementation of this Act in the Department’s expenditure program,
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 from any available official development assistance, and from
joint projects between agencies of the Republic of the Philippines and an
assisting country.

Local government units (LGUs) may 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.

SECTION 14. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within sixty
(60) days from the effectivity of this Act, the DENR Secretary shall issue the
rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this Act.

SECTION 15. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act or
the application of such provision to any person or circumstance is declared
unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act or the application of such
provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected by such
declaration

SECTION 16. Repealing Clause. - All other general and special laws,
acts, decrees, executive orders, letters of instructions, proclamations and
administrative regulation, or any part thereof which are inconsistent with
this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SECTION 17. Effectivity. ‘This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days
after its complete publication in either the Official Gazette, or in two (2)
newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,

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