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- Category: Top News
- Published on Thursday, 28 February 2013 21:00
- Written by Max V. de Leon / Reporter
The government has started tying up loose ends in the proposed National Land Use and Management Act, one of the programs in the Aquino administration’s reform agenda to sustain economic growth.
The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) and the Philippine Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) assembled different stakeholders to a forum on Thursday to gather their inputs for the improvement of the existing bill.
“The output of this forum would be a set of recommendations to help operationalize the proposed Act to resolve conflicting issues. These recommendations will then be used by the PCSD to assist policy-makers, government agencies, NGOs, CSOs and other stakeholders for more informed decisions on land use and management in our country,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and Neda Director General Arsenio Balisacan said.
The proposed Act, Balisacan said, aims to harmonize the existing conflicts in land use, such as agrarian reform, protected areas, ancestral domain, fisheries, forestry, agriculture, mining and settlements to enable the “proper use of our resources now and in the coming years.”
The proposal has obtained the nod of the House of Representatives but failed to hurdle the Senate.
Balisacan said the passage of the bill would help the government overcome certain challenges that the country faces.
“Among these pressing challenges is the absence of a comprehensive national land-use policy, which could more effectively guide our efforts to promote and attain sustainable development for our country,” he said.
He noted that the present administration’s inclusive growth agenda goes hand in hand with its efforts to open up more opportunities for the poor and most vulnerable sectors of society toward sustainable development.
“As our nation moves forward to a higher growth trajectory, there must be a conscious effort to balance economic development and ecological integrity in order to ensure the sustainability of our resources, especially in light of climate change and the impact of recent typhoons on our communities,” Balisacan said.
By setting in place appropriate use of resources, particularly land and water, he said the damage by natural disasters to lives and property could be significantly reduced.
Those who attended the forum were among the country’s leading experts on land use, including urban, regional and environmental practitioners, Balisacan said.
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