Joint DOT-DOST-DILG-DENR Memorandum of Agreement

October 30, 2014

JOINT DOT-DOST-DILG-DENR MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT

KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS:

This JOINT MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT (JMA) is made and entered into this 30 day of October 2014, at Makati City, Philippines, between and among the following:

DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM, a national government agency created and existing under Presidential Decree No. 189, as amended, with principal office address at Department of Tourism building, 351 Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, Barangay Bel-Air, Makati City, represented herein by its Secretary, HON. RAMON R. JIMENEZ, JR., hereinafter referred to as "DOT";

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, a national government agency created by virtue of E.O. 128 dated 30 January 1987 with office and postal address at Bicutan, Taguig, Metro Manila, represented herein by its Secretary, HON. MARIO G. MONTEJO, and hereinafter referred to as the "DOST";

DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT, a national government agency reorganized pursuant to Republic Act 6975, series of 1990, with principal office address at DILG-NAPOLCOM Center, EDSA corner Quezon Avenue, Quezon City, represented herein by its Secretary, HON. MAR ROXAS, and hereinafter referred to as "DILG";

-and-

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES, a national government agency created and duly organized pursuant to Executive Order No. 192, Series of 1987, with principal office address at Visayas Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City and represented herein by its Secretary, HON. RAMON J.P., PAJE, and hereinafter referred as "DENR";

The DOT, DOST, DENR and DILG shall hereinafter be collectively referred to as "PARTIES".

WITNESSETH THAT:

WHEREAS, it is a declared policy of the State to uphold the people's constitutional right to life, health, safety, and property and to promote the general welfare of its people at all times, especially during disaster, and calamities;

WHEREAS, it is a primordial objective of the DOT as the government agency responsible for developing and promoting socially-responsible tourism industry in the Philippines to maintain international standards of excellence in all tourism facilities and services, and promote the country as a safe and wholesome tourist destination; TCIHSa

WHEREAS, DOT recognizes the significant role of the Local Government Units (LGUs) in the management of local tourism projects and initiatives;

WHEREAS, The DILG-seeks to promote peace and order, ensure public safety, enhance capability of local government units through active people participation and a professionalized corps of civil servants;

WHEREAS, the DENR has the power and function to maintain a wholesome natural environment by enforcing environmental protection law and encouragement of greater people's participation and initiative in natural resource management;

WHEREAS, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) of DOST is a government agency mandated to observe and report the weather of the Philippines and specified adjacent areas, and to issue forecasts and warnings of weather and flood condition affecting national safety, welfare and economy;

WHEREAS, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) of DOST has a mandate to provide timely and quality information and services for warning, disaster preparedness and mitigation in relation to volcanic eruptions earthquakes, tsunamis and other related hazards.

WHEREAS, there is a foremost need to create an active partnership between the parties for the effective communication and dissemination of information concerning weather disturbances warnings and advisories to ensure the safety and convenience of our tourists, both local and foreign;

WHEREAS, there is a need to implement a "No Tourism Activity Policy" which provides for the procedures in the calling off or suspension of adventure travel/sports, sightseeing activities and other outdoor activity services of "Tourism Enterprises" and the ban of individual tourist access to tourism areas in cases of "orange" or "red" Rainfall Warning Systems (RWS) of PAGASA, earthquake advisory of PHIVOLCS and other similar weather advisories (floods, typhoons, storm surge/tide, monsoons (habagat),volcanic activities, gale and other disasters or calamities) to avoid unnecessary dangers to the lives and limbs of local and foreign tourists;

NOW, THEREFORE, for and in consideration of the foregoing premises and of the mutual covenants hereinafter stipulated, the parties hereto, agree as follows:

I. Coverage

This MOA shall apply to areas frequented by tourists such as, but not limited to tourist spots, areas, zones, protected areas and wildlife sanctuaries as identified by the PARTIES herein.

II. Definition of Terms

1. Tourism Activity/Access Policy (TAP) — policy that provides a mechanism which is coordinated between government agencies and instrumentalities for the effective dissemination of weather and other climate advisories for tourism purposes.

2. "No Tourism Activity/Access" Advisory — advisory issued by DOT which is characterized by ORANGE and RED Rainfall Warning System, typhoon signals no. 2-4, storm surge/storm tide, earthquakes, southwest monsoons (habagat),volcanic eruptions, gale alert, violent mud (lahar) flows and other weather disturbances as may be determined by the DOT in close coordination with DOST, DILG and DENR.

3. Tourism Enterprises — refers to establishments, facilities, services and attractions involved or engaged in tourism-related activities, such as, but not limited to: travel and tour services; tourist transport services, whether for land, sea or air transportation; tour guides; adventure sports services involving such sports as mountaineering, spelunking, scuba diving, and other sport activities of significant tourism potential; convention organizers; accommodation establishments, including, but not limited to, hotels, resorts, apartelles, tourist inns, motels, pension houses, and home stay operators; tourism estate management services, restaurants, shops and department stores, sports and recreational centers, spas, museums and galleries, theme parks, convention centers and zoos.

4. Tourism Areas — areas, spots and zones frequented by tourists as identified in the National Tourism Development Plan.

5. Adventure Travel — is a type of tourism, involving exploration or travel to remote and exotic areas that requires performance of acts with significant effort and involve some degree of risk (real or perceived) and/or physical danger. This may include activities such as mountaineering, trekking, bungee jumping, mountain biking, rafting, zip-lining, paragliding, rock climbing, and other similar adventure sports.

6. Rainfall Warning System (RWS) — color-coded (yellow, orange and red) rainfall and flood warning system to help communities prepare for upcoming disasters issued by Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) based on the color coding scheme of the Community-Based Flood Early Warning System (CBFEWS) under the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) project. These colors are generally associated with awareness, preparedness and emergency respectively. CIaHDc

7. Yellow RWS (Heavy Rain) — indicates 7.5-15 mm rain in the last hour and flooding is possible in low-lying areas and near river channels. Residents are advised to "MONITOR" the news for further updates.

8. Orange RWS (Intense Rain) — indicates 15-30 mm rain in an hour that is also expected to continue within the next two hours and that flooding is "threatening". The public is asked to be ''ALERT" for possible evacuation. At this point, low-lying areas are expected to suffer from floods because of relatively heavy downpour.

9. Red RWS (Torrential Rain) — indicates more than 30mm rain is observed in an hour, and is expected to continue in the next two hours. Low-lying areas are expected to experience serious flooding. Residents in areas that have low elevation, such as coastal towns and cities are advised to take the necessary precautionary measures or "EVACUATE" immediately.

10. Storm Surge/Tide — is an abnormal rise of water due to a tropical cyclone and has an oceanic event responding to meteorological driving forces. Storm surges are caused primarily by high winds pushing on the ocean's surface. The wind causes the water to pile up higher than the ordinary sea level. Potentially disastrous surges occur along coasts with low-lying terrain that allows inland inundation, or across inland water bodies such as bays, estuaries, lakes and rivers. For a typical storm, the surge affects about 160 km of coastline for a period of several hours. Larger storms that are moving slowly may impact considerably longer stretches of coastline.

11. Gale Warning — is an advisory issued by a competent authority (PAGASA) in maritime countries experiencing or about to experience strong wind force and violent wave height.

12. Southwest Monsoon (Habagat) — A system of winds that influences the climate of a large area and that reverses direction with the seasons. Monsoons are caused primarily by the much greater annual variation in temperature over large areas of land than over large areas of adjacent ocean water, and are marked by heavy rainfall.

13. Volcanic Activity/Event — ranges from emission of gases, non-explosive lava emissions to extremely violent explosive bursts that may last many hours.

14. Public Storm Warning Signal No. 1 — Winds of 30-60 kph may be expected in at least 36 hours or intermittent rains may be expected within 36 hours.

15. Public Storm Warning Signal No. 2 — Winds of greater than 60 kph and up to 100 kph may be expected in at least 24 hours.

16. Public Storm Warning Signal No. 3 — Winds of greater than 100 kph up to 185 kph may be expected in at least 18 hours.

17. Public Storm Warning Signal No. 4 — Very strong winds of more than 185 kph may be expected in at least 12 hours.

III. Duties and Responsibilities of the Parties

A. The Department of Tourism (DOT): 

1. The DOT, upon evaluation of the color-coded RWS and other similar weather advisories (typhoons, floods, gale warnings, volcanic activities, lahar (mud) flows and other disasters or calamities), and in close coordination with PAGASA and PHIVOLCS, shall issue a "No Tourism Activity" Advisory to the concerned Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (LDRRMO) of the affected LGU headed by the local chief executive, Regional Offices and Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) of DENR, and other authorized/deputized tourism officers/agents of other affected local communities.

2. The DOT, in close coordination with PAGASA, shall be responsible in providing the DILG and DENR a Tourism Weather Bulletin as part of coordinated efforts to address the safety and convenience of our tourists and to ensure that risks on different tourism areas will be managed.

B. The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and LGUs:

1. The Local Government Units which receives a "No Tourism Activity" Advisory from DOT shall, through the Local Chief Executive concerned and in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act No. 7160, immediately enforce the same and shall have the authority to suspend or call-off the operations of "Tourism Enterprises" offering adventure travel/sports, or sightseeing activities and other outdoor services, and to ban individual tourist access to tourism areas within their respective jurisdictions, subject to the supervision of the DILG. EHTADa

C. The Department of Science and Technology (DOST), PAGASA and PHIVOLCS:

1. The DOST, through its attached agencies PAGASA and PHIVOLCS, shall apprise and immediately provide the DOT and its Regional Offices with Rainfall Warning Advisory and an advance weekly as well as daily weather bulletins, warnings, and advisories related to the occurrences or possibilities of floods, typhoons, storm surge/storm tide, monsoons (habagat), earthquakes volcanic activities, gale and other weather and climate-related information that could impact on the welfare and safety of our tourists.

D. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)

1. Upon the issuance of the "No Tourism Activity" Advisory by the DOT to the concerned DENR Regional Offices, the latter shall inform their respective Protected Area Superintendents (PASus), forest rangers, field personnel and volunteers to prohibit or prevent any tourism excursion, trip or activity within the affected tourist areas, protected areas, and critical habitats, as defined by existing laws.

IV. Issuance of Additional Rules

The "PARTIES" shall, whenever necessary and in case of contingencies formulate additional guidelines in relation to the implementation of this agreement.

V. Amendments

This agreement or any part or portion thereof is subject to amendment, modification or revision only through formal written agreement among the parties hereto, citing the specific clause(s) and/or provision(s) to be revised and stating the corresponding amendments.

VI. Effectivity Clause

This Joint Memorandum of Agreement shall take effect immediately upon signing of the parties hereto and shall remain in force unless sooner mutually terminated by all of the parties of this agreement.

IN WITNESS THEREOF, the parties hereto have set their hands this 30 day of October 2014 in City of Makati, Philippines.

DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

By:

(SGD.) MAR ROXASSecretary

DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM

By:

(SGD.) RAMON R. JIMENEZ, JR.Secretary

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES

By:

(SGD.) RAMON J.P. PAJESecretary

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

By:

(SGD.) MARIO G. MONTEJOSecretary

SIGNED IN THE PRESENCE OF:

(SGD.) MARIA RICA C. BUENO

(SGD.) ATTY. JEFFVINCE M. GUZMAN

ATTACHMENT

Acknowledgment

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES)

BEFORE ME, a Notary Public in and for CITY OF MAKATI, Philippines, this 25th day of November 2014 personally appeared:

 

Name	TIN/GSIS/SSS/Passport/	Date & Place Issued
	Driver's License/Voter's
	I.D. No.
MAR ROXAS	(Passport) EC1083241	05-05-14/Manila
RAMON R. JIMENEZ, JR.	(Passport) DE0003306	05-31-13/DFA Manila
RAMON J.P. PAJE	(Passport) DD00083795	02-16-12/DFA Manila
MARIO G. MONTEJO	(Passport) DP0007497	11-12-10/DFA Manila

all known to me and to me known to be the same persons who executed the foregoing Joint Memorandum of Agreement and they acknowledged to me that the same are their free and voluntary act and deed. EaSCAH

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my notarial seal on the date and at the place first above written.

AUDELLE H. ZAMORA

Doc No.: 264;Page No.: 53;Book No.: III;Series of 2014

OFFICIAL GAZETTE

August 18, 2014

 

HON. MAR ROXAS

Dear Secretary Roxas:

It is the directive of the Aquino administration to ensure that there will be major institutional changes to effectively and efficiently implement the national policy for tourism as a key driver in achieving rapid, inclusive, and sustained socio-economic growth for the country.

Towards this end, Department of Tourism is promoting our country as a safe and secure tourist destination to attract more tourist arrivals and investments by ensuring the safety of our guests in our tourist destinations especially during disasters and calamities.

In line with this objective, DOT has forged a partnership with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to come up with a Joint Memorandum of Agreement in the implementation of the "No Tourism Activity Policy."

The "No Tourism Activity Policy"' will provide for the protocols and procedures with respect to effective information dissemination among the concerned government agencies in the calling off or suspension of adventure travel/sports, sightseeing activities, and other outdoor activity services of tourism enterprises and the prohibition on any touristic activity in cases of severe weather conditions.

Pursuant thereto, the DOT has finalized the JMA incorporating therein the insights, comments and suggestions (please see attachments) on the cooperation and allocation of responsibilities of each of the concerned government agencies in the implementation of the "No Tourism Activity Policy."

Due to the exigencies of the time and situations of extreme weather disturbances, it is respectfully submitted that it is imperative and expedient that we formalize this JMA for its full implementation.

Please find the attached JMA the Secretary's signature.

Thank you for your unwavering support to the tourism industry.

Very truly yours,

(SGD.) RAMON R. JIMENEZ, JR.

Published in the Official Gazette Vol. 111, No. 10, page 1412 on March 9, 2015.