House OKs bill limiting forest boundaries on third reading

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a bill that determines the limits and boundaries of forests.

House Bill No. 5860 or the “Final Forest Limits Act of 2012” is in accordance with Section 4 of Article XII of the 1987 Constitution which mandates the House of Representatives Congress to define through law the specific limits of forest lands.

Authored by Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez, Abante Mindanao partylist Representative Maximo Rodriguez Jr., Agham partylist Representative Angelo Palmones, Surigao del Norte Representative Francisco Matugas and Cavite Representative Joseph Emilio  Abaya, the measure seeks to conserve, protect and develop the country’s forest resources to ensure that there is ecological balance.

It also requires for the creation of the National Review and Evaluation Committee which will process, evaluate and approve all completed assessment and delineation reports on forest lands.

Completed reports for each province will be endorsed to the National Review and Evaluation Committee while on-going assessments and delineation activities will follow the same process until all boundaries of forest lands have been delimited.

The bill defines forest lands, as those under the public domain already classified as forest land as per existing land classification maps issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Included are all permanent forest reserves proclaimed by the president or declared by law as well as those categorized as unclassified lands of the public doman which have been assessed and delineated by the DENR.

According to the bill, previously established land classification survey lines per province with their respective technical descriptions and maps will be used as reference materials.