THE ENP BOARD REVIEW SERIES: PART 7 LAWS GOVERNING

ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING

July 5, 2016

This is a list of laws governing the practice of environmental planning. This list
links the law titles to online sources for easy reference.

Any profession is governed by specific laws, and its no different in environmental

planning. Ill try to keep this as concise and organized as possible, since youre
going to be reading through a whole lot of legal terms and frameworks.

When I first started studying environmental laws, I couldnt get myself to move
forward. It took practice and constant reading to understand the pattern that
appears in every law. Each one is structured, and when you get to read a couple,
you get the hang of how to analyze the contents. Ill group the laws together the
way I studied them when I was reviewing for the boards.

Tips:
Take note of the frameworks, plans, and bodies created to implement the plans
Take into context the year the law was created, and know the background of
the administration and the international declarations that were passed (for
example, most laws that deal with policing environmental activities are in the
law series numbered in 9000s and were passed in the years 2000s-2010s.
This is because the Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997 and the enforcement
of commitments was done in the 2000s.) This might help:

Designations used for Philippine laws. Source: Wikipedia

Lets get started.

 The overall basis is our Constitution. Take note that other laws objectives, or
the Declaration of Policy, always refer to the what is best for the State, as is
written in the Constitution. Tip: Sometimes Article numbers come up in the
exam.
The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines
Then before we go into the institutions and environmental laws, theres the basis
of environmental planning and practice.
RA 10587: Environmental Planning Act of 2013 (The old law is PD 1308: Law
Regulating the Environmental Planning Profession in the Philippines)
Res. No. 01 Series of 1997: Code of Ethics for Environmental Planners in the
Philippines
Then Ill just put this here because professionals have to know: RA 8981: PRC
Modernization Act of 2000
It is helpful to understand how government entities were created so that before
going into the laws that discuss their further activities and what they should be
policing, you will have a sound structure of what their mandates and functions
are.
RA 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991 We understand here the
devolution of powers and functions to the local governments.
For the housing, shelter and urban development agencies: PD 933:
Creating the Human Settlements Commission, which is now Housing and
Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB); EO 90: Identifying government agencies
for the National Shelter Program and the creation of HUDCC; PD No.
757: Creating the National Housing Authority and dissolving the existing
housing agencies, defining its powers and functions, providing funds therefor,
and for other purposes. Here are the links to trace the histories
of NHA, HLURB, HUDCC, and SHFC.
EO 192 s 1987: Providing for the reorganization of the Department of
Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources, renaming it as the Department
of Environment and Natural Resources, and for other purposes
PD 107: Creating the National Economic Development Authority
For entities that have to do with waterworks: Amended PD 198 (2010) and
other related issuances: Provincial Water Utilities Act of 1973, Local Water
District Law, Local Water Utilities Administration Law, etc.; RA 6234: An act
creating the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System and dissolving the
National Waterworks and Sewerage Authority; and for other purposes
RA 4850: Creating the Laguna Lake Development Authority
Housing, shelter, estate development, urban development

RA 7279: Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992 (with IRR and
amendment: RA 9397)
EO 71: Devolving the powers of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board
to approve subdivision plans, to cities and municipalities pursuant to RA 7160,
otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991
 EO 72: Providing for the preparation and implementation of the
Comprehensive Land Use Plans of Local Government Units pursuant to the
Local Government Code of 1991 and other pertinent laws
Batas Pambansa 220 (with revised IRR of 2001): An Act Authorizing the
Ministry of Human Settlements to establish and promulgate different levels of
standards and technical requirements for economic and socialized housing
projects in urban and rural areas from those provided under Presidential
decrees numbered 957, 1216, 1096, and 1185
PD 957: Subdivision & Condominium Buyers Protective Decree (with IRR)
RA 4726: The Condominium Act of 1995
RA 7835: Comprehensive and Integrated Shelter Financing Act of 1994
RA 9507: Socialized and Low-cost Housing Loan Restructuring Act of 2008
EO 184 of 1994: Creating socialized housing one-stop processing centers to
facilitate the processing and issuance of permits, clearances, certifications,
and licenses appropriate and necessary for the implementation of socialized
housing projects, and directing all government agencies concerned to support
the operations of the said centers
House Bill 3769 / Senate Bill 2458: Local Housing Boards
RA 9904: Magna Carta for Homeowners and Homeowners Associations (IRR)

I found that reviewing laws according to development sector was effective for me,
so thats the way Ill list them here.

Environmental laws

Ill group the environmental laws according to land, mineral resources, energy,
wildlife, water, air, and pollution control. These all interlace at some point, but
for for organization purposes, lets study it as grouped.

Introductory and general laws on the environment

PD 1151: Philippine Environmental Policy
PD 1152: Philippine Environmental Code
RA 9512: National Environmental Awareness and Education Act of 2008
Land Management
1. Commonwealth Act 141: The Public Land Act. Yes, this was enacted in 1936
and is enforced to date.
2. PD 1517: The Urban Land Reform
3. PD 27: Decreeing the emancipation of tenants from the bondage of the soil,
transferring to them the ownership of the land they till and providing the
instruments and mechanism therefor
4. PD 1529: Amending and codifying the laws relative to registration of property
and for other purposes
5. RA 11023: An Act Authorizing the Issuance of Free Patents to Residential
Lands
(I placed all laws on agriculture and agrarian reform later on in this post, under
the heading of economic laws for agriculture.)

Mineral Resources
1. RA 7942: Philippine Mining Act of 1995 (with DMO 99-34 Clarificatory
Guidelines)
2. RA 7076: Peoples Small Scale Mining Act
3. PD 1899: Establishing Small Scale Mining as a new Dimension in Mineral
Development
Energy
1. RA 9367: Biofuels Act of 2006
2. RA 9513: Renewable Energy Act of 2008
Forestry
1. PD 705: Revised Forestry Code
2. PD 953: Requiring the planting of trees in certain places and penalizing
unauthorized cutting, destruction, damaging, and injuring of certain trees,
plants, and vegetation
3. EO 263: Adopting community-based forest management as the national
strategy to ensure the sustainable development of the countrys forestlands
resources and providing mechanisms for its implementation
4. RA 9175: Chainsaw Act of 2002
Wildlife and Biodiversity Conservation and Protected or Critical Areas
1. RA 9147: Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act
2. RA 7611: Strategic Environment Plan for Palawan Act, which created
the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD)
3. RA 9072: National Caves and Cave Resources Management and Protection Act
4. RA 7586: National Integrated Protected Areas System Law of 1992 (with IRR,
also DENR AO 2008-26)
5. PD1586: Environmental Impact Assessment
6. DENR DAO 1996-37 Environmental Impact System
7. Proclamation No. 2146: Proclaiming certain areas and types of projects as
environmentally critical and within the scope of environmental impact
statement system established under PD 1586
Water Use and Management
1. PD 1067: Water Code of 1976 (with IRR)
2. RA 9275: Clean Water Act of 2004 (with DAO 05-10 and IRR)
3. RA 8041: National Water Crisis Act of 1995
Air Management
1. RA 8749: The Clean Air Act of 1999
2. DENR DAO 2003-51: Revised Vehicle Emission Standards
Waste
1. RA 9003: Ecological Solid Waste Management of 2001 (with IRR)
2. RA 6969: Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of
1990
3. PD 825: Anti-Littering (Garbage Disposal)
4. PD 856: Sanitation Code of 1975 (with IRR)
Climate change adaptation and Disaster risk reduction (CCA-DRR)
1. RA 9729: Climate Change Act of 2009, which created the Climate Change
Commission
2. RA 10121: The Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Law of
2010, which created the NDRRMC
3. Ill put the Fire Code here because its part of DRR. RA 9514: Revised Fire Code
of 2008
Social, cultural, and institutional laws

1. RA 8371: Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997, which created the National
Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP)
2. RA 10066: National Culture Heritage Act of 2010
3. RA 9418: Volunteer Act of 2007
4. RA 9710: Magna Carta of Women of 2009 (IRR)
5. RA 7877: Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995
6. RA 9485: Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007
7. RA 9184 Procurement Law (with IRR as per EO 40 of 2001). Brace yourself for
how long and detailed this law is. Heres a presentation by the Government
Procurement and Policy Board to sum up the law and present it in the simplest
way.
(#s 5 and 6 were referenced during my exam, so best to include them here.)

Economic Laws

Agricultural, agrarian reform, and fishery laws

1. For the series of laws on agrarian tenancy and reform, we have a list: RA 1199:
Agricultural Tenancy Act; RA 3844: Agrarian Reform of 1963 (this link is a
direct download); RA 6657Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988; RA
7907 Amended Code of Agrarian Reform of the Philippines; RA 9700 Extension
of Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
2. RA 8435: Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA), which brought
about the delineation of SAFDZs (strategic agriculture and fisheries
development zones) which are very important in land use
3. RA 8550: Fisheries Code of 1998 (with IRR). This law gives guidance on the
privileges of fishing within municipal waters (as does RA 7160), as well as the
FARMCs (fisheries and aquatic resources management councils)
4. EO 481: Promotion and Development of Organic Agriculture in the Philippines
Commerce and credit, services, and economic zones
1. RA 7916: The Special Economic Zone Act of 1995 (with IRR), which established
the Ecozones and created the PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority) that
is attached to the DTI.
2. RA 9593 Tourism Act 2009 (with IRR), which created the TIEZA (Tourism
Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority), and designated the TEZs
(Tourism enterprise zones), greenfield tourism zones, and brownfield tourism
zones
3. EO 226: Omnibus Investments Code of 1987, which protects our Philippine
enterprises and states our business rights
4. RA 9520: Revised Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008
5. RA 9510: Credit Information System Act of 2008
6. RA 6977: Magna Carta for Small Enterprises
7. RA 9501: Amendments to Magna Carta for Small Enterprises, which became
inclusive of micro-, small-, and medium enterprises (MSMEs)
Infrastructural laws

1. RA 6541: National Building Code (with IRR of 2004IRR link is a direct

download)
2. RA 6957 and RA 7718 (amendment): Financing, construction, operation, and
maintenance of infrastructure projects by the private sector (with IRR and
Joint Venture Guidelines), where guidelines are given on build-operate-
transfer (BOT) and build-and-transfer schemes with the private sector
3. RA 9295: Domestic Shipping Shipbuilding
International Covenants and Commitments

1. UN Declaration of Human Rights

2. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
3. International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
4. Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination
5. Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
6. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
7. Convention on the Rights of the Child
8. International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers
and Members of their Families
9. Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation
of Prostitution of Others
10. UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. I wrote a little bit about
our history of climate change commitments and efforts in another blog
post (just scroll down to the part of Philippines and COP21).
11. Lastly, given the much-disputed Philippine Sea / China Sea territory,
heres the UNCLOS or UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. While were at it,
heres RA 9522: Baselines of Philippine Territorial Sea.