Issuing authority and legal basis
- Proclamation No. 333 is issued by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
- Proclamation No. 333 is issued pursuant to the President’s powers vested “by law.”
- The proclamation’s implementation places CHNM under the administrative jurisdiction, supervision and control of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Purpose and policy of CHNM
- Proclamation No. 333 protects the CHNM’s natural features for tourism, scientific, educational and recreational purposes.
- Proclamation No. 333 mandates coordination among national agencies and local government units to maintain and protect the chocolate hills natural features.
- Proclamation No. 333 strengthens preservation by prohibiting activities that alter, mutilate, deface, or destroy the hills.
Coverage, boundaries, and area rules
- Proclamation No. 333 amends CHNM by excluding specified lands from CHNM coverage.
- CHNM covers the area with more or less 1,776 hills located in the municipalities of Carmen, Batuan, Sagbayan, Bilar, Valencia and Sierra Bullones, Province of Bohol.
- Proclamation No. 333 excludes all alienable and disposable lands that are flat and rolling lands below 18% in slope from CHNM coverage.
- Proclamation No. 333 retains as part of CHNM the lands located 20 meters from the baseline of every hill outward to serve as a “draw back.”
- The exact CHNM areas and technical description are contained in Annex A, which forms part of the proclamation and must be confirmed through actual survey and delineation on the ground.
Technical description, survey, and funding
- Proclamation No. 333 attaches the Technical Description of the CHNM as Annex A.
- Proclamation No. 333 makes CHNM’s areas and technical description subject to actual survey and delineation on the ground.
- Proclamation No. 333 requires that additional funds be requested from and provided by the Department of Budget and Management for the actual survey and delineation.
Land status after exclusion
- Proclamation No. 333 provides that all areas excluded under the proclamation shall revert to their original status.
- Proclamation No. 333 provides that excluded areas may be disposed of in accordance with pertinent laws, rules and regulations.
- Proclamation No. 333 applies notwithstanding the existence of prior private rights.
Prohibition on altering or damaging hills
- Proclamation No. 333 prohibits any activity of any kind that will alter, mutilate, deface, or destroy the hills.
- Proclamation No. 333 specifically includes quarrying within the prohibited activities.
- Proclamation No. 333 imposes the prohibition regardless of prior private rights.
Planning requirements and local integration
- Proclamation No. 333 requires the comprehensive land use plan of the municipalities where CHNM hills are located to be revised to make it consistent with the proclamation.
- Proclamation No. 333 requires the Protected Area Management Plan for CHNM to take into consideration municipalities’ comprehensive land use plans.
- Proclamation No. 333 establishes that CHNM is administered and coordinated in a way that aligns conservation protection with local land use planning.
Administrative supervision and coordination
- Proclamation No. 333 places CHNM under the administrative jurisdiction, supervision and control of DENR.
- Proclamation No. 333 directs DENR to coordinate with other national government agencies and local government units.
- Proclamation No. 333 sets the coordination objective as maintaining and protecting the chocolate hills natural features for tourism, scientific, educational and recreational purposes.
Repeal or modification of inconsistent issuances
- Proclamation No. 333 repeals or modifies all proclamations and other existing issuances that are inconsistent with its provisions.
- Proclamation No. 333 operates as an amendment to Proclamation No. 1037 dated July 1, 1997, refining CHNM boundaries and exclusions based on slope criteria and delineation rules.