QuestionsQuestions (EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 26)
Executive Order No. 26 is an issuance by the President declaring the implementation of the National Greening Program (NGP) as a government priority. As an EO, it is a form of executive legislation that sets government policy and directs implementation through agencies, subject to statutory limits and constitutional constraints.
Section 1 declares that the State pursues sustainable development for poverty reduction, food security, biodiversity conservation, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
It provides for planting about 1.5 billion trees covering about 1.5 million hectares for a period of six years from 2011 to 2016.
Forestlands; mangrove and protected areas; ancestral domains; civil and military reservations; urban areas under the LGUs’ greening plan; inactive and abandoned mine sites; and other suitable lands.
All other greening efforts of the private sector and civil society shall be harmonized under the NGP.
All students (identified by DepEd and CHED) and all government employees are individually required to plant a minimum of ten (10) seedlings per year in areas determined by the Convergence Initiative.
Peoples’ Organizations (POs) are given the primary responsibility to maintain and protect the plantations, with appropriate assistance from the government and the private sector.
All tree planting initiatives (e.g., Upland Development Program, Luntiang Pilipinas, and similar activities by government, private sector, LGUs, and civil society) must be harmonized under the NGP.
They provide technical assistance under the Convergence Initiative and ensure that DA, DAR, DENR (with DepEd and CHED) produce appropriate quality seedlings annually for the NGP.
All proceeds from agroforestry plantations, duly accounted by the DENR, accrue to the NGP beneficiary communities to address food security and poverty reduction.
NGP beneficiary communities are considered priority in the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Program.
They must develop a centralized database and provide regular monitoring and timely reports on NGP progress.
The Convergence Initiative engages the private sector, civil society, and academe in monitoring and evaluation of the NGP.
The Steering Committee members under the DA-DAR-DENR Convergence Initiative constitute the NGP Oversight Committee, chaired by the DENR. DENR is the lead agency for the NGP.
Examples: (1) DepEd/CHED—student mobilization and monitoring/evaluation; (2) DSWD—Conditional Cash Transfer to NGP beneficiaries; (3) DBM—allocation of funds; (4) LGUs—establishment of nurseries and development of greening plan; (5) NCIP—mobilization of Indigenous Peoples and identification of sites inside ancestral domains; (6) DPWH—assistance in construction of access roads and trails; (7) DND—nursery establishment and security.
Funds needed for the current year shall be provided by DBM, while funding for succeeding years shall be incorporated into the regular appropriations of participating agencies.
If any portion is declared unconstitutional, it will not nullify the other provisions, as long as remaining provisions can still subsist and be given effect in their entirety.
All rules and regulations and other issuances or parts thereof inconsistent with EO No. 26 are repealed or modified accordingly.
It takes effect immediately upon publication in a newspaper of general circulation. Legally, the effectivity is tied to publication, meaning implementation by agencies would formally begin upon that publication date.