How the proposed National Land Use Act can fast-track housing

“It is the policy of the state to provide for a rational, holistic, and just allocation, utilization, management, and development of the country’s land resources.” This is to ensure that their “optimum use is consistent with the principle of sustainable development.” The state also recognizes the need for developing sustainable settlements, and shall “allocate lands for urban uses … consistent with the principles of environmental management and equitable access to land and security.”

The foregoing are the declaration of policies and principles in the introductory provisions of the proposed National Land Use Act (NLUA), as introduced by Sen. Pia Cayetano under Senate Bill No. 898. The measure is meant to harmonize all reasonable claims on the land, and to safeguard and promote the general welfare of present and future generations through proper management of this limited resource.

To do this, the state “shall institutionalize land use and physical planning as a mechanism to [identify, determine, and evaluate] alternative land use and allocation patterns.” In my view, the centerpiece program component of the NLUA, based on SB 898, is the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) to be prepared and updated every nine years in every city and municipality in accordance with the national, regional, and provincial physical planning frameworks.

The CLUP will serve as guide to fast-track the country’s social and economic development projects, with sanctions on officials who fail to comply with performance standards. The CLUP will substantially accelerate housing production to effectively address the huge housing backlog of about 6.5 million housing units. The significant provision in the bill on this is the easier access to suitable land for housing development, as contained in Chapter VII, Section 42. It says that residential zones as designated in the CLUP “shall be considered as outside the geo-hazard areas … and shall be exempt from the [environmental compliance certificate] … without the need for any further certificate of exemption from the [Department of Environment and Natural Resources] or any other government regulatory agency.”

Equally significant is that portion of Section 44 of the same chapter, that says “housing or residential lands designated in the CLUPs and [zoning ordinances] of cities and municipalities shall … not be subject to further land reclassification by the LGU (local government unit) or land conversion procedure under the [Department of Agrarian Reform]. On the other hand, agricultural lands as designated in the CLUP which are no longer economically feasible for agricultural use may be subject to land reclassification or conversion to housing/residential purposes and such conversion, as the case may be, shall be exempt from the coverage of any moratorium on land conversion.”

These two provisions are critical in accelerating the production of affordable housing nationwide, particularly for the underprivileged sector, including the homeless and informal settlers. A much greater volume of housing production will also stimulate economic activity in allied industries, such as construction, and create much-needed jobs and livelihood opportunities.

Jose S. de Guzman