[ philstar.com ]
By Helen Flores Updated June 03, 2009 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando called yesterday for a review of land use regulations following the controversy over the presence of oil depots in Manila.
Fernando said there is need to limit residential uses near industrial areas.
“There should be some revision that whenever (an area) is declared industrial we have to define how many residential areas are allowed or exclusive for industrial. What’s happening is after the investment is there then comes in the residential, the industrial normally suffers,” he said.
Fernando is apparently referring to Executive Order 72 or the Comprehensive Land Use Plan signed by then president Fidel Ramos in 1993.
Under EO 72, cities and municipalities will continue to formulate or update their respective comprehensive land use plans and submit them to the local council for approval as a zoning ordinance.
The comprehensive land use plan must be submitted to the regional or provincial land use committee. In the case of Metro Manila’s cities and lone municipality, the plan should be submitted to the MMDA.
Fernando said cities must submit their land use plan to the Metro Manila Council, the MMDA’s governing board and policy-making body, to check possible conflicts with the plans of other cities.
Fernando said that until now the cities of Manila and Valenzuela have not yet submitted their comprehensive land use plan to the council.
He said after approval by the Metro Manila Council, the plan would be forwarded to the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) for final approval.
“They must submit their comprehensive land use plans, otherwise these cannot be implemented without the MMDA’s approval and the ratification by the HLURB,” Fernando said in a recent forum. “This means that the local government unit cannot issue building permits,” he said.
The HLURB reviews and ratifies land use plans of cities and municipalities as well as that of provinces under EO 72.
Last May 28, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim signed the controversial Ordinance 7177, which allows the oil depot of Chevron Philippines, Petron and Pilipinas Shell to stay in Pandacan.
The Archdiocese of Manila and various environmental groups have opposed the ordinance, citing health and public safety as their primary concerns.
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