THE HONORABLE SALVADOR B. BELARO, JR.
1-Ang Edukasyon Party-list
Assistant Majority Leader
PARTY-LIST SOLON SEEKS URGENT ACTION ON FOREST LIMITS BILLS
Amid current public debate on charter change, one neglected issue is that 31 years after the 1987 Constitution took effect, Congress has not yet complied with the charter mandate to “as soon as possible, determine by law the specific limits of forest lands and national parks, marking clearly their boundaries on the ground.”
Section 4 of Article XII of the 1987 Constitution further provides: “Thereafter, such forest lands and national parks shall be conserved and may not be increased nor diminished, except by law.”
I am hoping President Duterte will certify the forest limits bills of the House and Senate as urgent so they can have a ratified bill approved by May 2018 and ready for his signature by then.
There are four bills on forest limits pending in the House now and one of them is House Bill 5945, which I authored and filed. In the Senate, there are three pending bills on forest limits.
Congress must fulfill this specific mandate now to arrest the deterioration of our country’s forest cover (
http://forestry.denr.gov.ph/index.php/statistics/forest-cover ).
The delineation of our forests is among the legislative priorities identified in the Philippine Development Plan for 2017 to 2022.
According to the 2016 Philippine Forestry Statistics of the DENR, the country has 15.8 million hectares of forestland, but this figure has not moved since 2006, so this figure may need to be looked into and updated.
The demarcation and delineation of forest lands will be tedious, time-consuming work, but it must be done to conserve, protect, and develop the forest resources of the country in order to attain ecological balance, preserve valuable ecosystems, prevent environmental degradation, and promote sustainable development for the present and future generations of Filipinos. (END)
BACKGROUND:
HB00143 AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE DELINEATION OF THE SPECIFIC FOREST LIMITS OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
Principal Author/s: ACOSTA-ALBA, MARIA LOURDES
Main Referral: NATURAL RESOURCES
Status: Pending with the Committee on NATURAL RESOURCES since 2016-07-26
HB00678 AN ACT FIXING THE LIMITS OF FOREST LANDS WITHIN FIVE (5) KILOMETERS FROM EITHER SIDE OF THE ASPIRAS HIGHWAY (FORMERLY KNOWN AS MARCOS HIGHWAY) FROM AGOO, LA UNION TO BAGUIO CITY, REPEALING FOR THE PURPOSE PROCLAMATION NO. 1754
Principal Author/s: ERIGUEL, SANDRA Y., M.D.
Main Referral: NATURAL RESOURCES
Status: Approved by the Committee on Appropriations on 2017-02-06
HB03486 AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE DELINEATION OF THE SPECIFIC FOREST LIMITS OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Principal Author/s: ESCUDERO, EVELINA G.
Main Referral: NATURAL RESOURCES
Status: Pending with the Committee on NATURAL RESOURCES since 2016-09-13
HB05945 AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE DEMARCATION AND DELINEATION OF FOREST LAND LIMITS, APPROPRIATING THE NECESSARY FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Principal Author/s: BELARO, SALVADOR JR. B.
Main Referral: NATURAL RESOURCES
Status: Pending with the Committee on NATURAL RESOURCES since 2017-07-25
SBN-861: Forest Lands Limits Act of 2016
An Act Providing for the Delineation of the Specific Forest Limits of the Public Domain and for Other Purposes Filed on July 21, 2016 by Recto, Ralph G.
SBN-741: Final Forest Limits Act
An Act Providing for the Delineation of the Specific Forest Limits of the Public Domain and for Other Purposes Filed on July 21, 2016 by Escudero, Francis "Chiz" G.
SBN-35: Final Forest Limits Act
An Act Providing for the Delineation of the Specific Forest Limits of the Public Domain and for Other Purposes Filed on June 30, 2016 by Legarda, Loren B.
REFERENCE:
http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/constitutions/1987-constitution/Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=89103.0
