Marcos reiterates push for national land use bill

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 27) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday renewed his call for the swift passage in Congress of the proposed National Land Use Act (NLUA), which aims to provide a detailed national framework for the rational and just use of the country’s land resources.

In a speech during an event in Liloan, Cebu, Marcos reiterated the urgency of enacting a national land use policy and thanked the House of Representatives for approving earlier this week House Bill (HB) No. 8162, or the proposed NLUA.

“Through a physical framework plan, all mandates and policies on land use shall be integrated— from watersheds to farm lands from cultural heritage sites to ancestral domains, from protected disaster-prone areas,” the president said during the launch of Pier 88, Cebu’s first smart port.

The proposed NLUA aims to integrate all mandates and policies on the use and protection of lands, including parameters that will guide planning at both national and local levels.

HB 8162 also seeks to create the National Land Use Commission, which would replace the current National Land Use Committee, and will become the highest policymaking body on land use.

Marcos said he will ensure that the measure will be given the "urgent attention that it deserves,” stressing its importance to national development.

The proposed NLUA was among the priority measures Marcos listed during his first State of the Nation Address last year.