Management, Development, etc. of Watershed Areas of Pantabangan and Magat Multi-Purpose Dam Projects

March 20, 1980

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 1002

WHEREAS, under Presidential Decree No. 705, as amended, jurisdiction over watershed areas, inter alia, is vested in the Bureau of Forest Development of the Ministry of Natural Resources; cdt

WHEREAS, under Letter of Instructions No. 917, as amended, critical watersheds and proclaimed watershed reservations supporting existing government dam projects or domestic water supply facilities, among other areas, have been declared as wilderness areas, and as such shall not be the subject of exploitation of whatever nature;

WHEREAS, it is necessary to reassess the multiple uses of watersheds and watershed reservations in order to optimize the benefits that can be derived therefrom;

WHEREAS, it is now essential to protect, conserve, and rehabilitate the watershed areas of both the Pantabangan and Magat Multi-purpose Dam Projects and other operational hydropower dam and water-oriented projects; and

WHEREAS, to attain said purpose, the National Irrigation Administration has enlisted the assistance of international development institutions in order to achieve sound and more expeditious erosion control and watershed development in said dams;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order the following:

1. The National Irrigation Administration shall have the authority to manage, protect, develop, and rehabilitate the watershed areas of the Pantabangan and Magat Multi-Purpose Dam projects, more particularly described in the maps designated as Schedules "A" and "B", annexed hereto and specifically made parts hereof.

2. In the development of erosion control and watershed development projects in said areas and in order to attain their objectives, the National Irrigation Administration shall be allowed, as a highly exceptional case, to harvest forest products and other agro-forestry products therefrom except logs and timber from presently growing/existing trees; Provided, however, that an industrial tree-farming as well as a dendro-thermal project of about 5,000 hectares in each big watershed can be included in the project in hill tops. cd i

3. The provisions of instructions, orders, rules and regulations as are inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed, amended, or modified accordingly. cdt

4. This Letter of Instructions takes effect immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 20th day of March, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty. casia