POSITION PAPER

Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) is a rational approach of

allocating available land resources as equitably as possible among competing user

groups and for different functions consistent with the development plan of the area. It is

one of two documents mandated by the Local Government Code (Republic Act 7160)

that must be prepared by local government units in the Philippines. It is a document

designed to guide the future actions of a community. It presents a vision for the future,

with long-range goals and objectives for all activities that affect the local government.

This includes guidance on how to make decisions on public and private land

development proposals, the expenditure of public funds, availability of tax policy (tax

incentives), cooperative efforts and issues of pressing concern, such as farmland

preservation or the rehabilitation of older neighborhoods areas.

1. What should be the guiding principles in land use planning?

 Watershed as platform for land use planning

The watershed covering the ridge-to-reef features of the land shall serve as the

common strategic physical planning (vertical) platform for the formulation and

preparation of all land uses and physical plans. It shall be the unifying and integrating

(horizontal) framework in the identification of both public and private land use

management strategies and policies including disaster risk reduction and climate

change adaptation and mitigation measures. The increasing threat and impact of

climate change and natural disaster and calamities arising from extreme weather

occurrences further highlights the need to analyze local physical planning and
development initiatives using an area’s bio-physical condition as critical focal point. This

is particularly significant at the provincial level where watersheds and sub-watershed

are more clearly defined and interrelated. The integrated watershed or ecosystems

management framework shall also be the physical reference for the formulation of

specific sectoral and development plans by national and local government agencies. In

the determination of specific land uses and development controls, the analysis and

assessment of the watershed or its sub-watershed area, either within the territorial

jurisdiction of an LGU and/or its adjacent LGUs, shall start from the uplands to the

lowland areas down to the coastal areas, including municipal waters, as defined under

RA 8550 or the Revised Fisheries Code. A prioritization of critical watershed areas,

including its impact and affected communities and barangays, shall be ascertained

based on the use values—economic, social, ecological, cultural, historical, institutional

or infrastructural, at the community and LGU levels.

 2. Inclusive and expansive governance

It advocates that all three actors in governance, namely: government (state), civil

society, and the private sector are actively involved in the enhanced CLUP process.

Good local governance allows for collaborative partnerships among the local

government, business, and civil society. Good governance is characterized as

sustainable, participatory, transparent, accountable, legitimate and acceptable to the

people, and promoting equity and equality

  3. Co-management principle

Section 3 (i) of the Local Government Code provides that “local government units

shall share with the national government the responsibility in the management and

maintenance of ecological balance within their territorial jurisdiction.” Local governments

and the national government are therefore mandated by RA 7160 to act as co-

managers of the national territory and patrimony.

 4. Gender responsiveness and sensitivity

The integration of gender, explicit consideration of development (socio-economic,

physical, cultural, etc.) and population interrelationships in the entire planning process –

plan formulation, plan implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The utilization of the

POPDEV planning approach ensures or provides a mechanism for integrating

sustainable development indicators in planning.

2. What is the most important step in land use planning?

Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (now the Department of Human

Settlements and Urban Development) prescribes a 12 step process for the formulation

of the CLUP which provides the general procedures from which the planning team can

proceed with the CLUP and ZO preparation. While the process is vision-oriented, it also

reiterates the importance of gathering information to provide a more realistic basis for

and effectively formulate the city/municipality vision.

The vital part of the process in formulating CLUP is to analyze the situation since

it identifies the issues, potentials and future development needs and spatial
requirements of the city/municipality. In these step, it will composed revalidated and

reaffirmed existing or redefined new strategic CLUP vision, goals and objectives

relevant to the LGU’s/community’s potential/future needs and requirements. In addition,

it shows technically-sound projections and estimates of both internal and external

conditions as well as future needs and requirements of the LGU and its people for at

least 9 years.