QuestionsQuestions (Republic Act No. 9154)
RA 9154 is the “Mt. Kanla-on Natural Park (MKNP) Act of 2001,” and it establishes Mt. Kanla-on as a protected area under the category of a “natural park,” consistent with the NIPAS Act.
The policy is to ensure protection and conservation of MKNP’s biological resources while also protecting its communities and their culture and way of life insofar as they are in harmony with nature. Conservation is pursued through sustainable and participatory development, advancing the interests of legitimate inhabitants and honoring customary laws under NIPAS (RA 7586), IPRA (RA 8371), and international conventions.
The Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) has the management and administration authority over the MKNP.
LGUs participate through representation in the PAMB. They must also ensure that local ordinances relating to the environment and the allocation of funds for environmental programs are consistent with the Act and the Management Plan.
Within one (1) year from effectivity, the Protected Area Superintendent (PASu) must prepare the Management Plan. It governs activities within MKNP, identifies allowed uses per zone, has a period of applicability of 30 years subject to periodic review every 5 years, and must be reviewed/updated every 5 years pursuant to NIPAS.
Both management planning and zoning must involve consultative and participatory steps, including dialogue consultations and land/resource-use mapping with GIS and latest technologies, with zones demarcated on the ground and indicated on maps with community, LGU, and stakeholder participation.
Zoning must give primary consideration to protection and conservation, while also taking into account tenurial and livelihood concerns to ensure efficient protection of habitats, fragile ecosystems, and unique areas.
PAMB includes DENR Regional Executive Directors of Regions VI and VII (with the RED of Region VI as PAMB chair), governors, mayors, barangay captains, NGO representatives, PO representatives, PPDOs, ICC/IP representatives per tribal community, and a PNOC EDC representative. The chair ensures DENR leadership in policy-making and oversight within the system.
Geothermal exploration within MKNP is generally not allowed except by an Act of Congress. In the buffer zone, exploration/development is permitted only under relevant forestry and environmental regulations and still under the conditions stated in the Act, including PAMB control over areas not directly used for geothermal development.
Proponents must contribute to the Integrated Protected Area Fund (IPAF). The MKNP PAMB must be represented in the multi-partite environmental monitoring committee for geothermal operations in the buffer zone, consistent with PD 1586 (EIS System) and relevant DENR rules.
A tenured migrant is a person who actually and continuously occupied an area for five (5) years prior to designation as part of a protected area and is solely dependent on that area for subsistence. Tenurial instruments issued for occupied/cultivated areas must not exceed three (3) hectares per tenured migrant household.
Tenurial instruments/rights cannot be transferred, sold, leased, encumbered, or made as collateral/security or joint venture capital; the only allowed transfer is to direct descendants. Any violation of terms or abandonment is ground for revocation.
It prohibits acts such as hunting, collecting, destroying, trapping, disturbing, or possessing wild plants/animals/products without a prior PAMB permit; cutting/gathering/removing timber or forest products outside compatible zonal uses without prior PAMB permit; kaingin/activities causing forest fires; introducing exotic species; and various unauthorized occupation/construction. Generally, prior PAMB permit is required within the regulated areas/zones and subject to the Management Plan.
(a) For Section 15(A) acts, penalties include fines of not less than P5,000 but not more than P500,000 and imprisonment of not less than 6 years and 1 day but not more than 12 years (depending on the specific act). (b) If the species involved is a protected species, penalties increase to imprisonment of not less than 12 years and 1 day but not more than 20 years and fines from P500,000 to P1,000,000, plus accessory penalties like eviction, damages for rehabilitation/restoration, and forfeiture of equipment and protected resources caught in possession.
Yes. The PASu or duly deputized personnel may arrest even without a warrant any person who has committed or is committing in his/her presence any offense defined under Section 15.
IPAF is a trust fund for financing projects for the system. It is funded by incomes generated from operations of the system/management of wild flora and fauna, fees from permitted sale/export of resources other than protected species, lease of multiple-use areas, contributions from industries/facilities directly benefiting the protected area, and other related fees/income. It is deposited as a special account in the national treasury, disbursements are solely for protection, maintenance, administration, and management of the system and duly approved projects endorsed by the PAMB, and no amount may be disbursed for the operating expenses of DENR and other concerned agencies.