QuestionsQuestions (PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1067)
It cites Article XIV, Section 8 of the 1987 Constitution (as quoted in the text’s WHEREAS clauses) which provides that all waters of the Philippines belong to the State.
Article 2 lists: (a) basic principles/framework for appropriation, control, conservation; (b) define rights/obligations of water users/owners and protection/regulation; (c) provide a basic law on ownership, appropriation, utilization, exploitation, development, conservation, protection of water resources and related land rights; and (d) identify administrative agencies to enforce the Code.
Key principles include: (a) all waters belong to the State; (b) State-owned waters cannot be subject to acquisitive prescription; (c) the State may allow use/development through administrative concession; and (d) utilization/exploitation/development/conservation/protection are under government control and regulation through the National Water Resources Council.
“Waters” include water under the ground, above the ground, water in the atmosphere, and waters of the sea within the territorial jurisdiction of the Philippines.
Article 5 includes: (a) rivers and their natural beds; (b) continuous/intermittent waters of springs and brooks running in natural beds and the beds themselves; (c) natural lakes and lagoons; (d) other surface waters; (e) atmospheric water; (f) subterranean/ground waters; and (g) seawater.
Article 6 covers: (a) continuous/intermittent waters rising on private lands; (b) lakes and lagoons naturally occurring on such lands; (c) rain water falling on such lands; (d) subterranean/ground waters; and (e) water in swamps and marshes.
The landowner may use such waters for domestic purposes without securing a permit, provided the use is registered when required by the Council; the Council may regulate such use if there is wastage or in times of emergency.
It states that any person who captures or collects water by such means has exclusive control over that water and the right to dispose of it.
From the moment it reaches the appropriator’s canal or aqueduct leading to the place of use or storage, and thereafter as long as it is being beneficially used for the purposes for which it was appropriated.
Appropriation is the acquisition of rights over use of waters or the taking/diverting of waters from a natural source in the manner and for any purpose allowed by law.
Domestic, municipal, irrigation, power generation, fisheries, livestock raising, industrial, recreational, and other purposes.
Article 13: no person, including government entities and GOCCs, may appropriate water without a water right evidenced by a water permit. Article 15: only Philippine citizens of legal age and juridical persons duly qualified by law to exploit and develop water resources may apply.
For example: using hand-carried receptacles; bathing/washing, watering/dipping domestic or farm animals; and navigation/transportation of logs/objects by flotation—subject to the specific items listed in Article 14.
As of the date of filing the application for a water permit in case of approved permits, or as of the date of actual use where no permit is required.
Beneficial use is utilization of water in the right amount during the period needed to produce the benefits for which the water is appropriated. The “measure and limit of appropriation” is beneficial use.
Priority in time of appropriation gives the better right; but in times of emergency, domestic and municipal uses have a better right over all other uses. If municipal use has lower priority and water shortage is recurrent, the municipal appropriator must find an alternative source in accordance with Council conditions.
Article 28: suspension may be ordered for non-compliance with approved plans/specifications or schedules, using water for another purpose, non-payment of water charges, wastage, failure to keep records when required, and violation of terms/conditions or Council rules/regulations. Article 29: revocation after due notice and hearing for non-use, gross violation, unauthorized sale of water, willful failure to comply with rules/orders, pollution/public nuisance/acts detrimental to health and safety, disqualification of appropriator, irrigation land conversion to non-agricultural purposes, and similar grounds.
The Council has original jurisdiction over such disputes.
Article 91(A)(1) provides that appropriation of water without a water permit (unless exempted) is penalized with a fine not exceeding P3,000.00 and/or imprisonment not more than three (3) years, at the discretion of the court.