National Land Use Committee

This came out in BusinessWorld the week before Christmas:

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has included the National Land Use Committee (NLUC) into the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board to address the land-use issues among government agencies.

The directive was embodied in Executive Order 770 signed by Executive Secretary Eduardo R. Ermita on Dec. 1. It also amended Letter of Instruction 1350 which formed the NLUC in 1983.

"The NLUC, as a NEDA board committee, can advise the President and the NEDA Board on all matters concerning land use and physical planning; and decide and resolve land use policy conflicts between or among national government agencies," the order read.

"There is a need to provide for rational utilization and management of the country's land and other physical resources to ensure their optimum use consistent with the principles of sustainable development," it added.

The President noted that existing laws on land uses such as agrarian reform, protected areas, and ancestral domain and fisheries, forestry and mining "are sector specific and do not address crosscutting land use issues."

"Population growth and numerous development priorities such as food security, settlement development, industry and development, environmental protection and infrastructure continue to compete for limited resources," she added.

The order makes NLUC the highest policy-making body on land use.

The NLUC will be headed by the NEDA director-general and will consist of the secretaries of Environment, Agriculture, Agrarian Reform, Trade and Industry, Public Works, Tourism, Interior and Local Government, Justice, Science and Energy; the chairmen of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, and Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, and the National Commission on the Indigenous Peoples; and two private sector representatives.

The NLUC was tasked to promote integrated use of land and physical planning policies and to resolve land use conflicts among agencies.

Alexis Douglas B. Romero

22 December 2008

BusinessWorld

Here's to hoping they understand urbanization.

Image by PHBascon