Friday, June 06, 2008 [ manilatimes.net ]
House to cooperate with Local Government department and UP to resolve land use issues
By Sammy Martin, Reporter
THE House of Representatives, spearheaded by Speaker Prospero Nograles, together with the Department of Interior and Local Government and the University of the Philippines, have agreed to join forces to work for the ultimate enactment of a National Land Use Code, which will serve as a guide for the judicious and appropriate utilization of the country’s land resources.
Rep. Antonio Cerilles of Zamboanga del Sur, chairman of the House Special Committee on Land Use, said that a memorandum of cooperation was recently signed by the Speaker, Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Marius Corpus and Dr. Candido Cabrido Jr., president of the UP Planning and Development Research Foundation, Inc., for a capacity-building program involving local government units, for the preparation of comprehensive land use plans and comprehensive development plans.
Cerilles, author of House Bill 3175 seeking to institutionalize a National Land Use Policy, said the memorandum affirmed the Speaker’s commitment for the enactment of a land use act, which Nograles earlier included in his five-point action plan to address the rising cost and limited supply of rice and to achieve genuine food security.
“A National Land Use Code will ensure food security, sound population distribution and settlements development, rational and sustainable economic growth, sustainable use of natural resources, maintenance and preservation of the environment, conservation of soil and water resources, reduction of vulnerability to natural and man-made disasters, and harmony between the rights and the varied interests of every Filipino,” said Nograles.
Training for local units
Nograles said the cooperation aims to conduct capacity-building activities for local officials and staff on various aspects of urban and regional planning, by reaching out to the local units where basic knowledge on land use and development planning is much sought and needed.
“The ultimate outcome of this endeavor is the enactment of the National Land Use Code,” said Nograles.
The lack of a national land use plan is one of the causes of the indiscriminate conversion of farmlands for non-agriculture use. The proposal to have a land use measure dates back to the presidency of Fidel Ramos, when there were numerous land-use conflicts happening in various parts of the country, particularly in areas where industrialization and urbanization was taking place at a rapid pace.
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