THE RATIONALIZED LOCAL PLANNING SYSTEM

By the end of this session, participants shall have:

1. attained a satisfactory level of understanding of the background and purpose of the

Rationalized Local Planning System (RPS);

2. acquired a deeper understanding of the following:

 
a. importance, role and functions of the Local Development Council (LDC) and its
sectoral and functional committees, especially in the entire cycle of local planning
– from vision formulation to plan monitoring and evaluation;

b. planning mandates of LGUs under the Local Government Code of 1991

(hereinafter referred to as “Code”);
 
c. overview of the linkage and relationship between the two plans mandated under
the Code, i.e., the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) and the
Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP); and

d. authority levers of tools for implementing the CLUP and the CDP.

 
A. CURRENT STATE OF THE LOCAL PLANNING SYSTEM IN THE PHILIPPINES

The current state of the local planning system in most LGUs is characterized by the
following:

1. Inactive LDC
2. Indifferent Local Sanggunian
3. Lack or total absence of vertical and horizontal linkages
4. Weak plan-to-budget linkage
5. Multiplicity of development, sectoral and/or thematic plans that LGUs are asked to
prepare

B. NEED FOR RATIONALIZING THE PLANNING SYSTEM

1. Planning is an integral part of governance.

2. There is a need for “rationalizing” the planning system to enhance the LGU’s
capability in the performance of its DUAL functions:

a. As a As a POLITICAL SUBDIVISION of the National Government, LGUs are in

charge of the management of its entire geographical territory for and in behalf of
the national government

b. As a CORPORATE ENTITY, LGUs are responsible for:

 
i. Representing its inhabitants;
ii. Promoting the general welfare among the inhabitants within its territorial
jurisdiction, (Sec. 16, RA 7160) and
iii. Delivering basic services & facilities to enable its inhabitants to develop
fully into self-reliant communities (Sec. 17, RA 7160)

 
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3. Performing planning functions involves addressing the following issues:

a. WHO should be involved in planning?

b. WHY should LGUs plan?
c. HOW are plans prepared?
d. WHAT are the LGU’s authority levels or tools for plan implementation?

The answers to these questions comprise the local planning system.

3. SIGNIFICANT FEATURES AND COMPONENTS OF THE OF THE RATIONALIZED

LOCAL PLANNING SYSTEM
 
a. Selected Features

i. Faithful compliance with LGC provisions

ii. NGAs to dovetail their requirements with the local planning system
iii. Less technocratic, more participatory and consultative

b. Components

i. The Planning Structure

The generic Local Planning Structure consists of the political and technical
components. The political component is comprised of the Local Sanggunian
and the LDC. These two bodies lay down policy guidelines and take
decisions regarding the direction, character, and objectives of local
development. They do these in their capacity as elected representatives of
the people. In a very real sense, they are the true planners of the city,
municipality or province.

The technical component on the other hand consists of non-elective officials

of the LGU, heads of national agencies operating in the area, and non-
government sectors.

The Local Planning and Development Coordinator (LPDC) serves as the

technical arm and head of the LDC Secretariat. In that capacity the LPDC
“coordinates” the different programs of the LGU departments and the national
agencies operating locally. The LPDC also coordinates the different
sectoral/functional committees that provide detailed inputs to the
comprehensive multi-sectoral development plan and investment program.

Section 112 of the Code provides for the formation of sectoral or functional
committees to assist the LDC in the performance of their functions.

Sectoral committees are standing committees.

Functional committees are ad hoc or temporary in nature in that they

automatically “disintegrate” after a specific function or task shall have been
completed. Sometimes they are called “Task forces” or “technical working
groups” whose functions are not permanent.

The suggested composition of sectoral committees is in the table below:

SECTORS Core Technical Working Expanded TWG Full-blown Sectoral

Group (The “Nice to Have Committee
(The “Must Have”) Around”) “The More, the Merrier”)

 
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SECTORS Core Technical Working Expanded TWG Full-blown Sectoral

Group (The “Nice to Have Committee
(The “Must Have”) Around”) “The More, the Merrier”)

Social LPDO, SWDO, POSO, LDC
Representatives:
((Barangay,CSO), District
Supervisor, PTA Federation,
Sanggunian Representative
Economic PESO, Agriculturist, Tourism
officer, Coop Development
Officer, LPDO Staff, LDC
Representatives (Barangay,
CSO), Saggunian
Representative
CTWG + Police Chief, Fire
Marshall, Local Civil Registrar,
PCUP, Nutrition Officer,
Housing Board Representative,
NSO, Manager of GSIS/SSS
CTWG + DTI Rep, Chamber of
Commerce & Industry, Trade
Unions, Bank Managers, Market
Vendors, Sidewalk Vendors,
Cooperatives, Transport
Organizations
ETWG + Sports Organizations,
Religious Leaders, Labor
groups, Senior Citizens, Media
Representatives, YMCA/YWCA,
Civic Organizations, School
Principals, Charitable
Organizations
ETWG + Lions club, Jaycees,
Rotary Club, Academe, other
interested individuals/ groups

Infrastructure Local Engineer, Zoning Officer,
LPDO Staff, LDC
Representatives (Barangay,
CSO), Saggunian
Representative, Local Architect
CTWG + Electric Coop &, Water ETWG + Other interested
District Representatives., Real groups and individuals
Estate Developers, Professional
Organizations,
Telecommunication Companies,
Academe

Environment LPDO Staff, LDC CTWG + Sanitary Inspector, ETWG + Environmental

Representatives Barangay, C/PENRO, FARMC Reps, Advocates, other interested
CSO), Head of General BFAR Rep., Heads of private groups and individuals
Services, C/PENRO, Hospitals, Academe
Sanggunian Representative

Institutional LPDO Staff, LDC CTWG + HRDO, Treasurer, ETWG + Religious groups,
Representatives (Barangay, Budget Officer, Assessor, Good Governance Advocates,
CSO), Local Administrator, Academe Other interested groups &
Sanggunian Representative individuals

ii. Planning Mandates of LGUs and the Code-Mandated Plans

Section 15, Local Government Code of 1991, RA 7160

“Every LGU is a body politic & corporate endowed with powers to be

exercised by it in conformity with law. As such, it shall exercise powers as a
political subdivision of the National Government and as a corporate entity
representing the inhabitants of its territory.”

Section 2 (a), RA 7160 (LGC) – Declaration of Policy provides that …

“… the territorial and political subdivisions of the State shall enjoy genuine &
meaningful local autonomy to enable them to attain their fullest development
as self-reliant communities & make them more effective partners in the
attainment of national goals.”

The above provisions of the Code imply that LGUs shall:

Ž as a political subdivision of the State, manage its territory on behalf of the

National Government, and

 
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Ž as a corporate entity, represent its inhabitants, promote the general
welfare of its inhabitants and ensure the delivery of basic services and
facilities as provided for under Sections 16 and 17, respectively of the
Local Government Code.

The General Welfare Goals (Sec. 16, RA 7160) are as follows:

1) Preservation and enrichment of culture

2) Promote health and safety
3) Enhance the right of the people to a balanced ecology
4) Encourage and support the development of appropriate and self-
reliant scientific and technological capabilities
5) Improve public morals
6) Enhance economic prosperity and social justice,
7) promote full employment among their residents
8) Maintain peace and order
9) Preserve the comfort and convenience of the inhabitants

Basic Services and Facilities (Section 17, RA 7160):

For a Barangay:

1) Agricultural support services which include planting materials

distribution system and operation of farm produce collection and
buying stations;
2) Health and social welfare services which include maintenance of
barangay health center and daycare center;
3) Service and facilities related to general hygiene and sanitation,
beautification, and solid waste collection;
4) Maintenance of Katarungang Pambarangay;
5) Maintenance of barangay roads and bridges and water supply
systems;
6) Infrastructure facilities such as multi-purpose hall, multi-purpose
pavement, plaza, sports center and other similar facilities;
7) Information and reading center; and
8) Satellite or public market, where viable

For a Municipality:

1) Extension and on-site research services and facilities related to

agriculture and fishery activities which include dispersal of livestock
and poultry, fingerlings and other seeding materials for aquaculture;
palay, corn, and vegetable seed farms; medicinal plant gardens; fruit
tree, coconut and other kinds of seedlings nurseries; demonstration
farms; quality control of copra and improvement and development of
local distribution channels, preferably through cooperatives; inter-
barangay irrigation systems; water and soil resources utilization and
conservation projects; and enforcement of fishery laws in municipal
waters including the conservation of mangroves;
2) Pursuant to national policies and subject to supervision, control and
review of the DENR, implementation of community-based forestry
projects which include integrated social forestry programs and similar
projects with an ara not exceeding fifty (50) square kilometres;
establishment of tree parks, greenbelts, and similar forest
development projects;
3) Subject to the provision of Title 5, Book I of RA 7160, health services
which include the implementation of programs and projects on primary
health care, maternal and child care, and communicable and non-
 
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communicable disease control services; purchase of medicines,
medical supplies and equipment needed to carry out the services
herein enumerated;
4) Social welfare services which include programs and services on child
and youth welfare, family and community welfare, women’s welfare,
welfare of the elderly and disabled person; community-based
rehabilitation programs for vagrants, beggar, street children,
scavengers, juvenile delinquents, and victims of drug abuse; livelihood
and other pro-poor projects; nutrition services; and family, planning
services;
5) Information services which include investments and job placement
information systems, tax and marketing information systems, and
maintenance of a public library;
6) Solid waste disposal system or environmental management system
and services or facilities related to general hygiene and sanitation;
7) Municipal buildings, cultural centers, public parks including freedom
parks, playgrounds, and sport facilities and equipment and other
similar facilities;
8) Infrastructure facilities intended primarily to service the needs of the
residents of the municipality and which are funded out of municipal
funds, including, but not limited to municipal roads and bridges; school
buildings and other facilities for public elementary and secondary
schools; clinics, health centers and other health facilities necessary to
carry out health services; communal irrigation, small water impounding
projects and other similar projects; fish ports, artesian wells, spring
development, rain water collectors and water supply systems;
seawalls, dikes, drainage and sewerage, and flood control; traffic
signs and road signs; and similar facilities;
9) Public markets, slaughterhouses and other municipal enterprises;
10) Tourism facilities and other tourist attractions, including the acquisition
of equipment, regulation and supervision of business concessions,
and security services for such facilities; and
11) Sites for police and fire stations and substations and the municipal jail

For a Province:

1) Agricultural extension and on-site research services and facilities

which include the prevention and control of plant and animal pests and
diseases; dairy farms, livestock markets, animal breeding stations,
and artificial insemination centers; and assistance in the organization
of farmer and fisherman’s cooperatives and other collective
organizations, as well as the transfer of appropriate technology;
2) Industrial research and development services, as well as the transfer
of appropriate technology;
3) Pursuant to national policies and subject to supervision, control and
review of the DENR, enforcement of forestry laws limited to
community-based forestry projects, pollution control law, small-scale
mining law, and other laws on the protection of the environment; and
mini-hydro electric projects for local purposes;
4) Subject to the provisions of Title V, Book I of the Code health services
which include hospitals and other tertiary health services;
5) Social welfare services which include programs and projects on rebel
returnees and evacuees; relief operations; and population
development services;
6) Provincial buildings, provincial jails, freedom parks and other public
assembly areas, and other similar activities;
7) Infrastructure facilities intended to service the need of the residents of
the province and which are funded out of provincial funds including,
 
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but not limited to, provincial roads and bridges; inter-municipal
waterworks, drainage and sewerage, flood control, and irrigation
systems; reclamation projects; and similar facilities;
8) Programs and projects for low-cost housing and other mass dwellings,
except those funded by the Social Security System (SSS),
Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Home
Development Mutual Fund (HDMF); Provided that national funds for
these programs and projects shall equitably be allocated among the
regions in proportion to the ratio of the homeless to the population;
9) Investment support services, including access to credit financing;
10) Upgrading and modernization of tax information and collection
services through the use of computer hardware and software and
other means;
11) Inter-municipal telecommunications services, subject to national policy
guidelines;
12) Tourism development and promotions programs

For a City:

All services and facilities of the municipality and province, and in addition
thereto, the following:

1) Adequate communication and transportation facilities;

2) Support for education, police and fire services and facilities;

Article XIII, Section 1, Philippine Constitution

The Congress shall give highest priority to the enactment of measures that
protect and enhance the right of all the people to human dignity, reduce
social, economic, and political inequalities, and remove cultural inequities by
equitably diffusing wealth and political power for the common good.

To this end, the State shall regulate the acquisition, ownership, USE
(underscoring supplied), and disposition of property and its increments.

Article XII, Section 6, Philippine Constitution

The use of property bears a social function, and all economic agents shall
contribute to the common good. Individuals and private groups, including
corporations, cooperatives, and similar collective organizations, shall have the
right to own, establish, and operate economic enterprises, subject to the duty
of the State to promote distributive justice and to intervene when the common
good so demands.

The Local Government Code directs LGUs to prepare two types of plans: the
CLUP and a multi-sectoral development plan – the CDP. This is based on
the following provisions of the LGC:

Ž For the formulation of the CLUP:

Sec. 3 (i), RA 7160

Local government units shall share with the National Government the
responsibility in the management and maintenance of ecological balance
within their territorial jurisdiction, subject to the provisions of this Code and
national policies.

 
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Section 20(c), RA 7160

The LGUs shall ... continue to prepare their respective CLUPs enacted
through zoning ordinances, which shall be the primary and dominant
bases for the future of land resources.

Section 447 (2) (vii): “Adopt a comprehensive land use plan for the
municipality: Provided that the formulation, adoption or modification of the
said plan shall be in coordination with the approved provincial
comprehensive land use plan ...”

Section 447 (2) (ix): “Enact integrated zoning ordinances in consonance

with the approved CLUP ...”
 
Section 458 (2) (vii): Adopt a comprehensive land use plan for the city:
Provided, That in the case of component cities, formulation, adoption or
modification of the said plan shall be in coordination with the approved
provincial comprehensive land use plan...”
 
Section 458 (2) (ix): “Enact integrated zoning ordinances in consonance
with the approved CLUP ...”
 
Section 468 (2) (vi): “(The province shall) prescribe reasonable limits and
restraints on the use of property within the jurisdiction of the province.”
Section 468 (2) (vii): “(The province shall)... adopt a comprehensive
provincial land use plan ...”
 

The term “comprehensive” in the land use plan means that the plan
should cover the entire territorial jurisdiction of the LGU – both land and
water. In most LGUs, the entire territory is covers three domains: public,
private and ancestral.

The CLUP embraces four land use policy areas:

o Protected Areas which refer to the life support system;

o Settlement Areas which refer to the space for living;
o Production Areas which refer to the space for making a living; and
o Infrastructure Areas which refer to the connectors between the space
for living (Settlement Areas) and the space for making a living
(Production Areas)

Ž For the formulation of the CDP:

Sec. 109, RA 7160: Each LGU shall have a comprehensive multi-

sectoral development plan to be initiated by the LDC and approved by its
sanggunian.

The Resource Person explains “comprehensive” in the multi-sectoral

development plan.)

The term “comprehensive” in the multi-sectoral development plan means

covering the five development sectors and their sub-sectors:

 
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SECTOR SUB-SECTOR
1. Population (Size, growth, distribution
SOCIAL 2. Social Services & Status of Well-being
DEVELOPMENT a. Education, culture, recreation
b. Health
c. Welfare
d. Housing
e. Social Services
1. Primary Sector
ECONOMIC a. Agricultural crops
DEVELOPMENT b. Livestock
c. Fisheries (inland, brackish, marine)
d. Forestry
2. Secondary Sector
a. Mining & quarrying
b. Manufacturing
c. Construction
d. Electricity, Gas, Water utilities
3. Tertiary Sectors
a. Wholesale & retail trade
b. Transportation & communication
c. Finance, insurance & related services
d. Real estate
e. Community & personal services
f. Tourism
4. Informal Sectors
1. Economic Support
INFRASTRUCTURE a. Irrigation systems
DEVELOPMENT b. Power generation (mini-hydro)
c. Roads, bridges, ports
d. Flood control & drainage
e. Telecommunications
2. Social Support
a. Hospitals
b. Schools
c. Public socialized housing
d. Facilities for ages, infirm and disadvantaged
e. Waterworks & sewerage

INFRASTRUCTURE 3. Administrative support

DEVELOPMENT a. Government buildings
(Cont’d.) b. Jails
c. Freedom parks & public assembly areas

ENVIRONMENT AND 1. Lands

NATURAL a. Lands of the public domain
RESOURCES b. Private and alienable & disposable lands
c. Ancestral domain
2. Forest Lands
a. Protection forests
b. Production forests
3. Mineral lands
a. Metallic / Non-metallic mineral lands
4. Parks, wildlife & other reservations
5. Water resources
a. Freshwater (ground, surface)
b. Air quality
c. Waste management
i. Solid waste
ii. Liquid waste
iii. Toxic and hazardous

 
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SECTOR SUB-SECTOR
INSTITUTIONAL 1. Organization & Management
DEVELOPMENT 2. Fiscal Management
3. Legislative Output
4. LGU – NGO – PO Linkages

iii. The Planning Process

The local planning process, in keeping with the spirit of the Local Government
Code on people empowerment, requires that it to be participatory,
consultative and inclusive.

iv. Authority Levers / Tools for Plan Implementation

1. Regulation
2. Taxation
a. Basic taxes
b. Special levies (special education fund, idle lands tax, special benefit
levy)
3. Public investment
4. Private investment incentives
5. Co-management arrangements
6. Zoning
7. Subdivision regulations
8. Building regulations
9. Enforcement of environmental laws and regulations
10. Local development investment program / Annual investment program
11. Programs and projects of NGAs

Simplified Planning Process SPECIFICATION 

OF MEANS
Vision ELABORATION 
OF ENDS

Element  Physical Planning  SPATIAL 

Descriptors Goals STRATEGIES

CLUP
LOCATION 
Success  PRINCIPLES
Indicators ƒ Settlement
ƒ Protection
Vision – ƒ Production
Reality Gap Sectoral  Sectoral  ƒ Infrastructure
Goals Objectives
Current 
Reality DEVELOPMENT
Whatever it
What can be ƒ Policies
takes to
• Ecological Profile reasonably ƒ Strategies
close the
• Statistical  done in 3 ƒ Programs
gap
Compendium years ƒ Projects
• Thematic Maps ƒ Legislations
C   D   P

1. Simplified Sectoral Planning

 
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INTERCHANGEABLE Generating New
4a
1 Setting 2 Determining Information
(Observed Ex tracting
the Current Reality Intelligence
Vision in the LGU Conditions)
3
4b
Determining Vision –
Plan Determining
Reality Gap
Monitoring & 12 Policy Options
Evaluation

Implementing 5
the Plan/ SIMPLIFIED SECTORAL  Setting Goals,
Enforcing 11 PLANNING PROCESS Objectives &
Regulations Targets

10
Budgeting Simple Complex
Goals
6
Goals
Investment 9
Programming
Screening of PPAs/ Structuring
LEGISLATIVE  Legislations 7 Solutions
AGENDA 8

 
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