The House of Representatives has unanimously approved on third and final reading House Bill 7496 seeking to delineate the specific limits of forestlands of the public domain for the conservation, protection and development of forest resources.
All 239 House members present during the voting backed the proposed “Forestland Limits Act” to give life to Section 4, Article 4 of the Constitution mandating Congress to determine by law the specific limits of forest lands and national parks by marking clearly their boundaries on the ground.
The bill refers to delineation as the “conduct of site investigation, field reconnaissance and assessment, and staking of boundaries between forestlands, national parks and agricultural lands verified in the field in accordance with the criteria set forth under Department of Environment and Natural Resources Administrative Order No. 2008-24.”
To determine the specific limits of forestlands, the previously established land classification survey lines per province with their respective technical description and maps shall be the basic data and information that will be used as reference material in undertaking the validation, assessment and delineation process.
All completed assessment and delineation reports for a given province shall be endorsed to the national review and evaluation committee as created.
The committee shall be composed of the DENR secretary as chairperson, secretary of the socioeconomic planning and director general of the National Economic and Development Authority as vice chairperson, and heads of the Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Agriculture and chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council as members.
All assessments, valuations and delineations shall be completed within one year after the passage of the law.