THE PROPOSED NATIONAL LAND USE ACT (NLUA)

Transcription

1 25 July 2013, Hotel Intercontinental, Makati City THE PROPOSED NATIONAL LAND USE ACT (NLUA) Presented by:

2 I. INTRODUCTION Acknowledgment CREBA support to the Committee on Housing & Urban Development 14 th Congress ( ) 15 th Congress ( )

3 Passage of RGV authored/ co-authored Bills & Resolutions R.A (Socialized/Low-Cost Housing Loan Restructuring & Condonation Act) R.A (Real Estate Service Act of the Phils.), the RESA Law R.A (Rent Control Act of 2009) R.A (Home Development Mutual Fund Act)

4 Passage of RGV authored/ co-authored Bills & Resolutions, Cont d. R.A (Magna Carta for Homeowners and Homeowners Associations) H.R. 065 (Construction of One Million Homes for 5-Year Period) H.R. 043 (Comprehensive Land Use Plans, or CLUP of LGUs)

5 Blocked the passage of S.B (NLUPA) in the 15 th Congress

6 II. THE CONTROVERSIAL PROVISIONS OF NLUA Presented by RGV in the CREBA Convention in Puerto Princesa, Palawan Privilege Speech in the Plenary on 19 November 2012 Letters to the Senators

7 III. CAMPAIGN FOR LAND USE POLICY NOW! (CLUP Now!) Pro-NLUA coalition of 15 People s Organizations (POs), 21 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and 2 individual environmental planners Full-Page Ad, Phil. Daily inquirer, 8 June 13 NLUA-HOW AN URGENT BILL DIES... Is the Realty Sector More Powerful Than The President s Certification of the National Land Use Plan Bill as Urgent?

8 IV. THE SEVEN PROPOSITIONS OF CLUP NOW! 1 ST Proposition Senate accused of killing the NLUA in the 15 th Congress after 20 years of debate and PHL facing disasters like Campostela Valley floods and landslides. Senate blamed for derailing a policy that would radically reduce loses to lives, livelihood and properties.

9 Reply : Floods and landslides are caused by noncompliance and/or incompetent enforcement of existing laws, i.e., illegal logging, mining, settlements in hazardous areas; not by a delayed NLUA. The Issue is the feasibility, practicability and correct enforcement of our laws; the elements of political will.

10 2 nd Proposition Senators reminded of President Aquino s certifying NLUA as urgent. Senators asked by the basic sectors (farmers, fisherfolk, indigenous people and urban poor) why the President s certification was ignored.

11 Reply: Should the Senators be expected to do everything that the President commands them to do? Realty Sector agrees with President Aquino on the urgency of NLUA. NLUA must be formulated with transparency and adequate consultation with ALL concerned sectors.

12 A railroaded NLUA exposes the President to unnecessary criticism or even ridicule. Real estate industry leaders should be commended for sounding the alarm to the powers-that-be.

13 3 rd Proposition Realty sector branded as detractors of NLUA who waited until the last two days of deliberation in the Senate. S.B already approved on 2 nd Reading on 29 January It was returned to the floor last February upon motion for reconsideration of some senators with amendments to the bill.

14 Realty Sector asked who is afraid of NLUA? CREBA and SHDA accused of insincerity in their desire to ventilate their views and recommendations on NLUA. Reply > Pro-NLUA proponents should be more respectful of the due process in Congress. No reason to fear a NLUA worthy of the name. CREBA will certainly oppose any attempt to railroad a seriously flawed NLUA.

15 As early as late 2011, again in 2012, CREBA submitted its own comments, verbally and in writing, to the discussion on the proposed NLUA bill. CREBA officially re-submitted its request to hold the passage of NLUA in abeyance because for an adequate and widespread consultation with ALL concerned sectors.

16 4 th Proposition NLUA bill being consistent with basic policies and principles for a national, holistic and just allocation of the country s land resources. Explanation: a) The bill DOES PROTECT agricultural lands. Land suitable for agriculture must be devoted to agriculture... aside from 4.5 million hectares of agricultural land already planted to rice, 50,000 hectares more are needed population is estimated at 97 million, one hectare planted to rice feeds 20 Filipinos.

17 b) Not all lands currently used for agriculture will be classified under protection land use NLUA will also delineate which lands are suitable to housing c) It is not true that NLUA does not promote balanced land use between food production and the backlog in the housing sector.

18 d) Current trends and best practices on sustainable urban planning and development call for vertical settlements to maximize limited land... people who need housing most cannot afford any of the housing projects of realtors... zeroto-low-income families are unlikely the target markets of realtors.

19 Reply: How Much Land For Food Security? DA and DAR official records show that close to 9 million hectares of land are classified as agricultural. This constitutes over 1/3 of the 30+million hectares of land in the country. International Rice Research institute (IRRI) reportedly recommended 50,000 more hectares added to 4.5 million hectares already planted to rice to feed 97 million Filipinos. Rice plantations would constitute one-half of PHL total agricultural land.

20 Entire populations of Israel, Japan and other countries assured sufficient food, correct nutrition and surplus for export, with much less land. The key to productivity: systematic provision of feeds, farm supplies, credit, equipment and infrastructure. Situation of CARP beneficiaries: After getting their 3 to 5 hectares each, were unable to cultivate and end-up selling their land. Official records clearly shows that from the adoption of CARP in 1987, the PHL agricultural productivity went down for the past 25 years.

21 Full-Page Ad, an admission that agri lands for protection or production STILL NEED to be delineated properly. If so, why does NLUA already have a long list of lands to be included under protection land use? What other parcels of land might be left for the three other land categories production, settlement and infrastructure.

22 Housing Trends Call for both Vertical and Horizontal Settlements on Suitable Lands It is not true that high-rise projects being built by developers are out of reach of the homeless and developers do not build projects for the zero-to-low-income families. How many houses for the so-called zero-tolow-income families have been produced and by whom? Private sector produced more houses for our homeless citizens than the government itself.

23 DAR Power Over Land Conversion Slowed-Down Development of New Townships and Housing DAR unwittingly blocked or slowed down and discouraged investment in housing and new communities in areas outside of the urban core. DAR s power bureaucracy and corruption discouraged planning and pursuit of new infrastructure, settlements and industrial zones. Carrying capacity of badly congested, polluted metropolis has been breached a long time ago.

24 DAR must bear a significant share of the blame for the nation s failure to reduce the continuing housing backlog nationwide. Department of Housing, Urban Planning and Development for effective solutions.

25 5 th Proposition Refuted NLUA giving practically all prerogatives and powers to the DA and DAR to determine and decide on land allocation, zoning, and utilization. Affirmed that the power of LGU to reclassify lands was not taken away; NLUA merely reiterates the power of DAR to issue conversion orders covering reclassified lands by LGUs as mandated by the agrarian reform law.

26 Reply : Conversion Versus Reclassification Why the power of approval or disapproval of DAR over LGUs authority to reclassify their lands? Who should know the needs of the communities better than their own LGUs? Track record of incompetence and corruption since the CARP was made official.

27 6 th Proposition Reply: Appeal For the 16 th Congress, we hope that other sectors will engage in fair play and open discussion on the NLUA bills. Was it fair play and open discussion when, under pressure from NLUA supporters, the House of Representatives fast-tracked its version called NLUMA passed third reading?

28 Similar effort was made to fast-tracked the Senate version, called NLUPA, through second and third readings when most of the Senators admitted not having read yet nor discussed nor debated the bill. The realty sector and groups in the private sector only asked both Houses of Congress not to rush passage of a bill that is seriously flawed, unacceptable controversial provisions showing clear bias to one or two sectors only.

29 Congress must engage all concerned sectors in open discussion. Provisions of the bill can be technically verified and validated. State-of-the-art technology is available to delineate and quantify by hectarage such land use patterns in every province. CREBALAND Inc can supply the technology and know-how. Process of validation and verification can enhance transparency and fairness in the process of crafting the bill.

30 7 th Proposition National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to lead the executive agencies in actively campaigning for NLUA. President Benigno Aquino III to uphold his commitment to NLUA and include it once more in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) as a Priority Bill. Further praying that the 16 th Congress will finally make a sustainable future for ALL through the NLUA.

31 REPLY: Pro-NLUA supporters caught trying to railroad NLUA through third reading without benefit of public debate. Definitely, the concluding portion of the Pro-NLUA statement is a motherhood statement against which no one will object.

32 V. HOW WE COULD SUPPORT A NLUA? Realty industry and business sectors agree that a national land use act is needed by this country. A correct NLUA, various CLUPs of LGUs across the land can be better coordinated and guided to complement each other instead of the current chaotic situation of to-each-its-own.

33 Any effort toward this objective must contend with other specific laws earlier passed by Congress which ordain uses of land for specific purposes. Insidious greed for CARP land must similarly be exposed and curbed. The truth is, against the millions of land already set aside for agriculture, less than 10% of land is used up for settlements and real estate development.

34 VI. PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE PRESENT NLUA DRAFT 1 st Condition Whether or not the land is tenanted, irrigated, irrigable or suitable for crops, the prior review, approval or any clearance by DAR shall not be required in the reclassification or conversion or development of agricultural lands are located: a) within all cities and all first-class municipalities (cf. RA 7279);

35 b) within all areas reclassified and zoned by LGUs for non-agricultural uses prior to June 15, 1988 (cf. RA 7160), provided, that in case the land to be developed is identified as environmentally critical an Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC) shall be obtained from the DENR. c) within a strip of one thousand (1,000) meters along existing national highways and provincial roads. (cf. PD 399); and

36 d) within areas identified by Provincial Land Use Councils for priority infrastructure development projects (cf. RA 7160); provided, that in case the land to be developed is identified as environmentally critical, an ECC shall be obtained from the DENR. Said lands are hereby reserved for settlements and urban development purposes under RA 7279, and are, therefore, excluded from all provisions of the CARP Law as amended.

37 2 nd Condition Any conversion ban or moratorium shall take effect only when a centralized Geographic Information System (GIS) with a comprehensive automated spatial database covering the entire country, to which all LGUs shall have access for land use planning and zoning purposes, shall have been established and declared fully operational.

38 Consider the following statistics; Of the total number of 1,512 cities and municipalities in the country, there are only 122 cities and only 187 first-class municipalities. With an average town size of 27,000 hectares, the total land area to be excluded under the proposed amendment is only some 8.6 million hectares.

39 In other words, out of the country s total land area of 30 million hectares, only some 28.6% is being recommended to be categorically reserved for residential, commercial, industrial, institutional and all other nonagricultural uses for the entire country.

40 Surely, the remaining agricultural lands of the country, with the application of smart technology to maximize agricultural productivity, as in the case of tiny Israel, would be more than sufficient to meet the requirements of food security for generations.

41 VII. SUMMARY A National Land Use Act, worthy of the name, must be consistent with the fundamental law of the land, which is the Philippine Constitution.

42 Art. III: On the National Economy & Patrimony Section 1. The goals of the national economy are for more equitable distribution of opportunities, income, and wealth; a sustained increase in the amount of goods and services produced by the nation for the benefit of the people; and an expanding productivity as the key to raising the quality of life for all, especially the under-privileged.

43 In the pursuit of these goals, all sectors of the economy and all regions of the country shall be given optimum opportunity to develop. In its present form, the proposed NLUA is inconsistent with both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution. Neither does it address the real policy and operational problems on the ground in pursuing a just and equitable land use for all sectors of society.

44 The NLUA, likewise, must be harmonized with the other laws on land use that were passed earlier by the Congress of the Philippines. In this regard, how can the NLUA help achieve a more reliable, scientific, systematic, consistent, and equitable implementation of the earlier land use laws?

45 While the proposed NLUA ordains the transfer of the planning functions and personnel of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) to the proposed National Land Use Commission, we would prefer the HLURB to remain with the proposed Department of Planning, Housing and Urban Development (through another bill) and be upgraded into a centralized national physical planning agency for the entire country.

46 VIII. CONCLUSION The proponents of the NLUA appear convinced about the validity of their position. They will not easily relent. They can be expected to continue pushing and lobbying aggressively until they achieve their objective, which is the passage of the NLUA as they have crafted it.

47 We, in the realty sector, have our own understanding and version of the NLUA that we believe will truly benefit all sectors of our society and our economy. How do we ensure that our colleagues in the industry have a correct and clear understanding of our preferred present position? How do we communicate it in the most effective way to other sectors who we hope will adopt and support our views?

48 In this endeavor, we cannot afford to be complacent or let our guard down. The 16 th Congress has just re-opened and the proposed NLUA apparently figures high on its list of priority bills. We must take part in this debate in every way we can. I know that CREBA will not shirk its responsibility of leadership in this regard.

49 Thank you and have a good day! Hon. RGV