House OKs land use act on 3rd reading
MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed on final reading a bill establishing a national land use policy, setting a long-term framework for managing the country’s land and natural resources.
With 224 lawmakers in favor of House Bill No. 8466 and three against, the lower chamber approved the proposal creating a central authority that would oversee the utilization, allocation and management of land and water resources in the Philippines and unify land use plans nationwide.
“Now more than ever, a National Land Use Plan is needed in order to have a framework on how we should utilize, manage and develop our natural resources and address vital issues such as land conversion, climate change and disaster risk reduction and management,” Akbayan Rep. Percival Cendana told the floor.
The Philippines has long lacked a national land use plan, leaving fragmented local policies that lead to differing approaches to development and resource use.
READ: House panel approves long-delayed National Land Use Act
“This is one of those bills that people may not talk about every day, but they will feel it when farms are protected, homes are built in safer places, roads are planned better and communities are spared from avoidable disasters,” Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos said in a statement after the vote.
The measure, listed among the Marcos administration’s priorities, mandates the creation of a national land use body to oversee the country’s transition to a unified policy under a 30-year plan, to be updated every decade.
Regional, provincial, city and municipal land use plans should be harmonized with the national framework to ensure a unified approach towards zoning and infrastructure development projects, it added.
Under the bill, land use is classified into four categories, including lots meant for protection and conservation, for production, housing and settlement, and public works.
The illegal conversion of agricultural lands into residential, commercial or industrial lots without clearance will carry penalties of up to P100,000, imprisonment of as long as 12 years, or both. /das
