Bill delineating forestlands passes House committee
Published Jan 27, 2020 12:00 am
By Charissa Luci-Atienza
The House Committee on Appropriations has approved a substitute bill seeking to delineate the specific limits of forestlands of the public domain for the conservation, protection, and development of the country’s forest resources.
The House panel, chaired by Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab recently gave in to the motion made by Quirino Rep. Junie Cua to approve the proposed Forest Land Limits Act.
House of the Representatives (ALVIN KASIBAN / MANILA BULLETIN / FILE PHOTO)
"This a refiled bill. We hope that this will see the light of day this 18th Congress," Ungab said.
The House of Representatives approved the measure on third and final reading during the 17th Congress.
In his sponsorship speech, Cua, vice chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriations, cited the urgency to pass the bill to ensure the full implementation of environmental and forest laws.
"I would like to stress that this bill is a refiled bill, not once, not twice, but this will be the fourth time that this bill is going to be refiled. I do not want to overstress the importance of this bill. Our forest continues to be degradaded and disappeared. In the advent of climate change, there is no need to repeat the importance of this activity," he said during the panel deliberation on January 22.
"It is high time we pass the bill delineating the specific forest limits of our public domain. There are no clear delineation and so it is therefore difficult to enforce environmental and forest laws. This would help in the enforcement of our environment laws. I move that we approve this bill," Cua said.
The Ungab panel specifically passed the funding provision or Section 15 of the substitute bill.
It provides that the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) shall include in its program the implementation of the proposed Act, the initial funding of which shall be charged against the current year's appropriations of the Department and thereafter shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act (GAA).
"Funds for the implementation of the provisions of this Act shall be supplemented from any available official development assistance (ODA) and from joint projects between agencies of the Philippines and an assisting country," the bill provides.
It mandates the local government units (LGUs) to 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.
The bill was approved by the House Committee on Natural Resources, chaired by Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. in November last year.
The principal authors are Bukidnon Rep. Maria Lourdes Acosta-Alba and Deputy Speaker and Batangas Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto.
Acosta-Alba cited that one of the key legislative agenda of the Duterte administration under the Climate Change and Mitigation Cluster is the delineation of Specific Forest Limits.
"This measure puts flesh to the Constitutional mandate of ascertaining the specific boundaries of forest and protected areas, with the objective of conserving and protecting these areas from further degradation, " she said.
Section 4, Article 4 of the Constitution mandates Congress to determine by law the specific limits of forestlands and national parks by marking clearly their boundaries on the ground.
Santos-Recto, for her part, said the bill seeks to strengthen the efforts of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in the delineation and assessment of the country's forest lands.
"An enabling law is necessary to provide a legal framework to preserve the remaining forest resources, protect, manage and utilize these lands for purposes consistent with sustainable development, " she said.
"With the growing threat of further encroachment over remaining forest lands at hand, it is imperative for government to secure forest lands from further dissipation due in part to uncontrolled development and urban expansion, " she stressed.
The proposed Forestland Limits Act seeks the creation of a National Review and Evaluation Committee that would conduct competent review, assessment, and validation of existing boundaries of forest lands and shall recommend to Congress such boundaries. The Committee, which shall be headed by the Secretary of the DENR, shall receive all completed assessment and delineation reports for a given province.
The director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority shall sit as vice chairperson of the evaluation committee. While, the Secretaries of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), of the Department of Agrarian Reform, of the Department of Agriculture, and chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council will sit as members.
Upon determination of final forest limits, the DENR shall delimit and establish boundary monuments on the ground, the bill provides.
Under the bill, delineation is referred to as the “conduct of site investigation, field reconnaissance and assessment, and staking of boundaries between forestlands, 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.”
The bill provides that the following shall constitute forestlands: all lands of the public domain already classified as forestland based on existing land classification maps used by the DENR; 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 forestlands by the DENR.
Under the measure, the previously established land classification survey lines per province with their respective technical description and maps shall be the basic data and information that will be used as reference material in undertaking the validation, assessment and delineation process.
All assessments, valuations and delineations shall be completed within one year after the passage of the Act, according to the bill.
"Immediately after the passage of the Act, the forest line delineated and established by the DENR shall be adopted as the forestland boundary of the country and all monuments established shall be deemed permanent. Maps of the forestland boundary prepared by the DENR shall be attached as an integral part of the Act for reference," the bill provides.
The permanent forestlands established pursuant to the Act shall not be diminished or reduced except by an act of Congress, the bill said.
The measure sought the creation of a Land Classification Conflict Adjudication Board (LCCAB) to resolve controversies and conflicts arising from land classification as a result of the delineation of forest lands.
The Secretary of the Department of Justice shall lead the Board. Sitting as members of the LCCAB are the administrator of the Land Registration Authority and one representative each from the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, a reputable college of forestry, and the private sector.
House of the Representatives (ALVIN KASIBAN / MANILA BULLETIN / FILE PHOTO)
"This a refiled bill. We hope that this will see the light of day this 18th Congress," Ungab said.
The House of Representatives approved the measure on third and final reading during the 17th Congress.
In his sponsorship speech, Cua, vice chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriations, cited the urgency to pass the bill to ensure the full implementation of environmental and forest laws.
"I would like to stress that this bill is a refiled bill, not once, not twice, but this will be the fourth time that this bill is going to be refiled. I do not want to overstress the importance of this bill. Our forest continues to be degradaded and disappeared. In the advent of climate change, there is no need to repeat the importance of this activity," he said during the panel deliberation on January 22.
"It is high time we pass the bill delineating the specific forest limits of our public domain. There are no clear delineation and so it is therefore difficult to enforce environmental and forest laws. This would help in the enforcement of our environment laws. I move that we approve this bill," Cua said.
The Ungab panel specifically passed the funding provision or Section 15 of the substitute bill.
It provides that the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) shall include in its program the implementation of the proposed Act, the initial funding of which shall be charged against the current year's appropriations of the Department and thereafter shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act (GAA).
"Funds for the implementation of the provisions of this Act shall be supplemented from any available official development assistance (ODA) and from joint projects between agencies of the Philippines and an assisting country," the bill provides.
It mandates the local government units (LGUs) to 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.
The bill was approved by the House Committee on Natural Resources, chaired by Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. in November last year.
The principal authors are Bukidnon Rep. Maria Lourdes Acosta-Alba and Deputy Speaker and Batangas Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto.
Acosta-Alba cited that one of the key legislative agenda of the Duterte administration under the Climate Change and Mitigation Cluster is the delineation of Specific Forest Limits.
"This measure puts flesh to the Constitutional mandate of ascertaining the specific boundaries of forest and protected areas, with the objective of conserving and protecting these areas from further degradation, " she said.
Section 4, Article 4 of the Constitution mandates Congress to determine by law the specific limits of forestlands and national parks by marking clearly their boundaries on the ground.
Santos-Recto, for her part, said the bill seeks to strengthen the efforts of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in the delineation and assessment of the country's forest lands.
"An enabling law is necessary to provide a legal framework to preserve the remaining forest resources, protect, manage and utilize these lands for purposes consistent with sustainable development, " she said.
"With the growing threat of further encroachment over remaining forest lands at hand, it is imperative for government to secure forest lands from further dissipation due in part to uncontrolled development and urban expansion, " she stressed.
The proposed Forestland Limits Act seeks the creation of a National Review and Evaluation Committee that would conduct competent review, assessment, and validation of existing boundaries of forest lands and shall recommend to Congress such boundaries. The Committee, which shall be headed by the Secretary of the DENR, shall receive all completed assessment and delineation reports for a given province.
The director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority shall sit as vice chairperson of the evaluation committee. While, the Secretaries of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), of the Department of Agrarian Reform, of the Department of Agriculture, and chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council will sit as members.
Upon determination of final forest limits, the DENR shall delimit and establish boundary monuments on the ground, the bill provides.
Under the bill, delineation is referred to as the “conduct of site investigation, field reconnaissance and assessment, and staking of boundaries between forestlands, 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.”
The bill provides that the following shall constitute forestlands: all lands of the public domain already classified as forestland based on existing land classification maps used by the DENR; 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 forestlands by the DENR.
Under the measure, the previously established land classification survey lines per province with their respective technical description and maps shall be the basic data and information that will be used as reference material in undertaking the validation, assessment and delineation process.
All assessments, valuations and delineations shall be completed within one year after the passage of the Act, according to the bill.
"Immediately after the passage of the Act, the forest line delineated and established by the DENR shall be adopted as the forestland boundary of the country and all monuments established shall be deemed permanent. Maps of the forestland boundary prepared by the DENR shall be attached as an integral part of the Act for reference," the bill provides.
The permanent forestlands established pursuant to the Act shall not be diminished or reduced except by an act of Congress, the bill said.
The measure sought the creation of a Land Classification Conflict Adjudication Board (LCCAB) to resolve controversies and conflicts arising from land classification as a result of the delineation of forest lands.
The Secretary of the Department of Justice shall lead the Board. Sitting as members of the LCCAB are the administrator of the Land Registration Authority and one representative each from the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, a reputable college of forestry, and the private sector.