Institutional Framework for National Physical Planning

August 2, 1983

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 1350

PROVIDING FOR THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR NATIONAL PHYSICAL PLANNING

 

WHEREAS, under the New Republic, national development shall be pursued with renewed vigor and greater determination through a more efficient, effective and economical government;

WHEREAS, there is need to redefine and reinforce the physical and spatial dimensions in the integrated development planning efforts under the New Republic;

WHEREAS, at present physical planning is for the most part undertaken either on a compartmentalized basis involving sequential and residual land use determination and disposition, or in connection only with specific sectoral agency needs;

WHEREAS, the establishment of a global, simultaneous, comprehensive and coordinated system of identifying and determining actual, alternative potential and proposed land use will greatly improve socio-economic planning and plan implementation; cd i

WHEREAS, the land use plans that shall form part of the output of this coordinated system shall serve to indicate, but not to mandate, the use of individual parcels of private lands; and

WHEREAS, under Presidential Decree No. 1416, as amended, the President is empowered to undertake such organizational and related improvements as may be appropriate in the light of changing circumstances and new developments;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution and the authority vested in me by Presidential Decree No. 1416 as amended, do hereby order and ordain:

SECTION 1. National Policy of Physical Planning. — It is the policy of the State that the land resources of the nation shall be utilized to obtain the maximum possible social and economic benefits for the people, through the undertaking of a comprehensive inventory of land resources and their current use and the subsequent adoption of national physical planning and supportive regional and subregional land classification and utilization plans that shall serve to indicate, but not to mandate, the desired use of such land resources, taking into consideration the interrelated developmental and environmental needs of the local communities and the need to uphold and protect private property rights in accordance with law. Land resources shall, for this purpose, refer to land, water, and other related natural resources.

SECTION 2. Creation of the National Land Use Committee. — In furtherance of the national policy abovementioned, there is hereby created an inter-agency National Land Use Committee, hereinafter referred to as the Committee, which shall serve as the coordinative mechanism to: casia

(a) Prepare and periodically revise an integrated National Physical Framework Plan which shall be consistent with and supportive of the current Philippine Development Plan for 1983-1987, as well as of future plans, and which shall indicate, among others, (1) the spatial implications of the Philippine Development Plan, (2) the proposed indicative use of the various land resources of the nation, (3) the priority programs to facilitate and expedite the completion of a comprehensive national land use inventory, and (4) the supportive regional framework plans;

(b) Develop, compile, reconcile where necessary, and periodically revise actual and indicative national and regional land use plans, which shall be consistent with and supportive of the National Physical Framework Plan, and which shall include but need not be limited to (1) those provided for in the various individual city and municipal zoning plans, and (2) those provided for under Executive Order No. 803 with respect to agricultural land classification;

(c) Coordinate and integrate, to the extent deemed desirable, physical planning activities, including but not limited to the standardization of the scales of regional land use maps and the identification of the various minimum specialized regional land use maps required for complete and consistent national compilation;

(d) Coordinate related researchers and surveys undertaken by the various agencies; and

(e) Perform such other functions as may be necessary, or as may be assigned by the President.

The national and regional land use plans formulated under this section shall serve to indicate and recommend, and not to mandate, the use of individual parcels of private lands, except as may otherwise be prescribed by specific laws. aisa dc

The Committee shall be composed of the Deputy Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority (or NEDA) as chairman; and the Deputy Ministers of the Ministries of Agriculture, Agrarian Reform, Human Settlements, Justice, Local Government, Natural Resources, Public Works and Highways, Trade and Industry, and Transportation and Communications, as well as the Deputy Director General of the National Science and Technology Authority, as members. The composition of the Committee shall be without prejudice to the participation of any senior representative of any other ministry or its equivalent in the Committee's deliberations, or of such authorized representatives of major organizations of regional or local government officials as may be considered desirable from time to time. Where there is more than one Deputy in a member ministry, the Minister concerned shall designate which of his Deputy Ministers shall serve in the Committee.

NEDA shall provide the necessary secretariat for the Committee, without prejudice to further technical and administrative support from the other member agencies represented in the Committee, as well as the cartographic services of the National Cartographic Authority and the Bureau of Coast and Geodetic Survey. The Committee shall utilize, as much as possible, the existing data gathering, processing, evaluation, and cartographic facilities and capabilities of appropriate cooperating government agencies.

The Committee shall utilize as much as possible the services of the various Regional Development Councils in determining and building up such regional informational and data requirements as it may require. Decisions concerning land use policies at the regional level shall as a general principle be discussed and resolved, as much as possible, in the appropriate Regional Development Councils.

The Committee is empowered to call upon all government agencies, including government-owned or controlled corporations and other government entities, to assist it in its work in the form of personnel, facilities, and other resources.

SECTION 3. The Functions and Responsibilities of NEDA. — The National Economic and Development Authority or NEDA shall be primarily responsible for physical planning at the national and regional levels. For this purpose, it shall have the following functions, among others:

(a) Formulate and prescribe regional standards and guidelines for regional physical framework plans, to be prepared by the Regional Development Councils;

(b) Provide technical assistance to the regions in the formulation of land use and land capability decisions;

(c) Develop, in conjunction with the various appropriate government agencies, a data base system which would identify and classify the present and possible uses of specific land areas, public and private, comprising the total land resources of the nation;

(d) Serve as the secretariat for the National Land Use Committee; and

(e) Perform such other functions as may be necessary.

SECTION 4. The Functions and Responsibilities of the Ministry of Human Settlements. — The Ministry of Human Settlements shall, within the context of and consistent with the national and appropriate regional physical framework plans, be responsible for undertaking, through the Human Settlements Regulatory Commission, general human settlements planning at the subregional levels, more specifically, at the level of the city and the municipality. For this purpose, it shall have the following functions, among others:

(a) Formulate and prescribe national standards and guidelines for land use plans and zoning ordinances of city and municipal governments; and

(b) Provide technical assistance to city and municipal governments in making land use and land capability decisions.

In addition, the Ministry of Human Settlements shall continue to be responsible, pursuant to Section 4 (d) of Presidential Decree No. 1396, for preparing the human settlements component of the National Physical Framework Plan, known as the National Human Settlements Plan, and in compiling, consolidating, preparing, and submitting to the appropriate authorities the land use patterns at the provincial and regional levels resulting from aggregating the various individual city and municipal zoning plans.

SECTION 5. The Functions and Responsibilities of the Ministry of Local Government. — The Ministry of Local Government shall be responsible for the general supervision of local governments at the city and municipality levels to ensure that the preparation and enforcement of local zoning plans are in accordance with the standards and guidelines established by the Human Settlements Regulatory Commission.

SECTION 6. The Functions and Responsibilities of the Ministry of Natural Resources. — The Ministry of Natural Resources shall, through the Bureau of Forest Development and the Bureau of Lands, retain responsibility for the legal classification, management, and authorized disposition of public lands, including forest and pasture lands, swamps lands, and alienable and disposal lands.

SECTION 7. The Functions and Responsibilities of the Ministry of Agriculture. — Within the framework of the National Physical Framework Plan and the provisions of Executive Order No. 803, the Ministry of Agriculture shall delineate and classify agricultural land resources with emphasis on the utilization, conservation, and the proposed development and management of prime agricultural lands. It shall also indicate the necessary support infrastructure such as irrigation facilities, farm-to-market roads, and agro-industrial centers.

 

SECTION 8. The Functions and Responsibilities of the Cities and Municipalities. — The cities and municipalities shall have primary responsibility, consistent with the national zoning standards and guidelines promulgated by the Human Settlements Regulatory Commission and the general land use strategy expressed through the National Physical Framework Plan and its regional components, in determining the classification and use of land in their respective localities to be enforced through appropriate zoning ordinances.

SECTION 9. Effectivity. — This Letter of Instructions shall take effect immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 2nd day of August, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Three.