Question & AnswerQ&A (LLDA Resolution NO. 23, S. 1996)
The rules are known and cited as the Implementing Guidelines of Section 41 (11) of Republic Act No. 4850, as amended, Defining and Regulating the Use/Occupancy of the Laguna de Bay Shoreland Areas.
These rules apply to existing titled lands with elevation 12.50 meters and below including those titled under the Torrens System prior to the enactment of P.D. No. 813 in 1975, and all other areas below elevation 12.50 meters, referred to a datum 10.00 meters below mean lower low water (M.L.L.W.).
The Laguna de Bay Shoreland Area or "buffer zone" is the part of the lake bed along the lakeshore lying at elevation 12.50 meters and below, alternately submerged or exposed by the normal annual rising and lowering of the lake levels. The datum elevation is a point 10.00 meters below Mean Lower Low Water (M.L.L.W.).
The policy is to properly manage and control the use and/or occupancy of the Laguna de Bay shoreland areas within the context of environmental concerns and national socio-economic development plans, maintain the shoreland as buffer zones, exercise regulatory control over land use, and respect rights of legitimate titleholders.
Allowed uses include tree farming/planting, recreational use without permanent structures, regulated agricultural use, fishponds without exotic species, backyard scale poultry, support facilities like dockyards or research facilities, and other uses that do not cause pollution or ecological disturbance subject to LLDA evaluation.
Prohibited uses include piggery farms regardless of size, dumpsites, housing projects and subdivisions, factories and other manufacturing and commercial establishments, quarrying, and other activities causing pollution or ecological disturbance to the lake.
Titled lands located at or below elevation 12.50 meters acquired prior to P.D. No. 813 of 1975 shall be respected, but any use of these lands requires clearance from the Authority. No development posing pollution or environmental problems will be allowed.
Applications for registration of lands below the reglementary elevation of 12.50 meters shall be opposed by the DENR-Bureau of Lands and/or in court as applicable.
Yes, such shoreland areas may be leased to bona fide residents or duly organized people’s organizations, associations, or cooperatives subject to the terms and conditions and approval of the Laguna Lake Development Authority.
The Laguna Lake Development Authority is primarily responsible for enforcement and monitoring, coordinated with the concerned local government units.
The rules and regulations take effect fifteen (15) days after their publication in a newspaper of general circulation.