EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 349 June 18, 1996
ADOPTING THE MT. MAKILING RESERVE AREA AND LAGUNA DE BAY REGION MASTER PLAN, PROVIDING FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION THEREOF AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 121, dated 24 August 1993, constituted the Mt. Makiling Reserve Area and Laguna de Bay Commission to coordinate and oversee efforts to preserve and develop the Mt. Makiling Reserve Area and the Laguna de Bay Region, consistent with the development framework;
WHEREAS, Section 4 of said Executive Order directed the Commission to formulate and submit, for approval of the President, a Master Plan for the preservation and development of the Mt. Makiling Reserve Area and Laguna de Bay Region;
WHEREAS, Section 5 of the same Executive Order directed the implementation of a moratorium in the subject areas and the Commission to recommend and provide guidelines for the lifting of said moratorium after the Master Plans have been put in place;
WHEREAS, after a series of consultations with concerned sectors, the Master Plan was formulated and adopted by the Mt. Makiling Reserve Area and Laguna de Bay Commission during its meeting on February 8, 1996;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby declare the approval and adoption of the Mt. Makiling Reserve Area and Laguna de Bay Region Master Plan. In accordance therewith, I hereby order the following:
Section 1. Implementation of the Master Plan. The implementation of the Master Plan shall be guided by the following priority considerations:
a. The implementation of programs and projects under the Master Plan shall be consistent with existing environmental laws and policies for the environmental protection of the region;
b. The implementation of the Master Plan shall be directed towards the rehabilitation and sustainable development of the watershed to ensure adequate and continuous fresh water supply for various uses;
c. The implementation of the Master Plan shall support the efforts to enhance the environmental quality of the lake. Consistent with this, a Zoning and Management Plan for the Lake and its fishery resources shall be implemented with priority attention to small fisherfolks and other marginalized sectors of the region; and
d. The implementation of the Master Plan shall also ensure the protection of the natural ecological attributes of the Mt. Makiling Reserve Area.
Section 2. Moratorium. The moratorium provided in Section 5 of Executive Order No. 121 is hereby lifted in areas specified in the guidelines issued by the Commission pursuant to the Master Plan as follows:
a. Moratorium on the issuance of new land development permits, clearances or concessions, as well as all modes of disposition in areas outside of the designated Buffer Zones is hereby lifted.
However, development of projects in these areas shall be subject to the conditions of PD 1586 and other existing environmental laws and policies as well as compliance with the requirements of DENR-LLDA and other government agencies. For existing projects, there should be adequate provision of environmental management measures that mitigate all negative impacts.
b. The moratorium in areas designated as Buffer Zones shall remain in effect. As such, development in these areas shall be in accordance with the Master Plan provided that these are non-critical projects as provided in the guidelines.
Disposition involving areas within the Buffer Zone of the Mt. Makiling Reserve Area shall be allowed. However, subsequent development shall still be covered by the moratorium as stated above.
For the Laguna Lake Buffer Zone, development shall also be in accordance with the provisions of the Shoreland Policy as promulgated by the LLDA;
c. Moratorium on the issuance of new permits for the construction and operation of fishpens and fishcages in the Laguna Lake is lifted subject to compliance with the Zoning and Management Plan for Laguna de Bay. lawphi1.net
Section 3. Institutional Arrangement. To ensure that the Master Plan shall implemented fully in the most expedient way, the following are hereby directed:
a. The Mt. Makiling Reserve Area and Laguna de Bay Commission in addition to its functions, shall provide oversight and coordinative mechanisms to fast-track the implementation of the programs and projects under the Master Plan;
The Commission shall provide for an effective review, monitoring and continuous refinement of the Master Plan to make it responsive to the development requirements in the region;
b. The Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) and the University of the Philippines at Los Baños (UPLB) in coordination with various agencies, shall lead in the implementation of the Master Plan for the Laguna de Bay Region and the Mt. Makiling Reserve Area, respectively;
c. The Executive Committee (ExCom) created pursuant to Memorandum Order No. 204 issued on April 27, 1994 shall oversee the full implementation of the programs and projects of the Master Plan; and
d. All concerned Local Government Units and other government agencies or entities shall align their development plans, programs and projects and extend full support to the implementation of the Master Plan. The private sector is also encouraged to support the Master Plan and coordinate their activities with the Commission.
Section 4. Repealing Clause. All orders, issuances, circulars, rules and regulations, or portions thereof, inconsistent with the provisions of this Executive Order are hereby deemed amended, repealed or modified accordingly. lawphi1.net
Section 5. Effectivity. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately. lawphi1.net
DONE in the City of Manila, this 18th day of June in the year of Our Lord Nineteen Hundred and Ninety Six.
The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation
