A study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) has underscored the need for a national land use plan that is mandated by law.
The encompassing law will create a unified framework for an efficient and effective use of the country’s landmass, the government-led think tank said.
The study entitled “The Need for a National Land Use Act in the Philippines” by PIDS senior research fellow Adoracion Navarro sheds light on the need for a transdisciplinary approach and updated data to bolster the case for the enactment of NaLUA after nearly three decades of failure.
Land use misgovernance in the Philippines has been a persisting issue, PIDS said. Navarro urged the need for renewed efforts, noting the “critical challenge” in the country to manage land resources.
“The National Land Use Act (NaLUA) emerges as a crucial solution to these issues, promising sustainable development and harmonious land management,” PIDS said.
“To strengthen the push to enact a NaLUA, advocates need to employ a transdisciplinary approach and deepen through updated data and evidences the appreciation by policymakers and stakeholders of the arguments for having this legislation,” Navarro said.
By using this approach, it will be easier to comprehend the complex issues associated with land and act as a spark for urgently needed changes to land use planning and governance, Navarro added.
“At its core, NaLUA seeks to govern the management and execution of a comprehensive land use system and physical planning mechanism. It aims to establish a national level mechanism to harmonize sectoral spatial land use policies and address competing land use demands systematically,” she said.
Navarro said it delineates clear land use parameters, outlines long-term planning strategies, and mandates reviews of sustainable land use at all levels of government.
“By providing a structured approach to land use governance, NaLUA aims to mitigate conflicts and promote sustainable development,” she said.
According to Navarro, existing mechanisms such as land zoning and reclassification have limited effect.
She also mentioned that the National Land Use Committee, tasked with resolving land use conflicts at the national level, lacks enforcement power and struggles to impose sanctions on non-compliant parties.
“This often leads to protracted disputes and the need for presidential intervention, as seen in past conflicts over land use conversion,” she said.
“Evidences of environmental degradation demonstrate the negative externalities that arise from the production and consumption of forest products and watershed services,” Navarro also said.
Additionally, land use conflicts within ancestral domains pose challenges to peace, development and cultural preservation, she said.
“Disputes arising from overlapping land claims further underscore the complexities inherent in land governance, highlighting the need for proactivity,“ she said.
She also noted the need to augment the technical proficiency of local government units (LGU) to improve their capacity to create, amend and carry out mechanisms at their level for the rational and sustainable governance of land use.
She pointed out that even if NaLUA is ratified, the efficient implementation of land use planning is contingent upon LGUs possessing a high level of skill in this area.
“It is crucial to emphasize that NaLUA can empower LGUs and rationalize land use policies, rather than diminish their powers,” she said.
Furthermore, Navarro stressed that there should be a unified front to bolster the policy and enactment to actively involve all relevant parties in a cooperative endeavor.
“Form a stronger advocacy with the participation of all stakeholders, including local governments, the business sector, and civil society,” she said.
“Should the NaLUA be enacted, the potential short- to medium-term impacts are the orderly settlement of the years-old land use conflicts and the prevention or minimization of future conflicts,” Navarro added.
