Core Policy and System Purpose
- Section 2 declares State policy to secure for Filipinos, for present and future generations, the perpetual existence of all native plants and animals through a comprehensive system of integrated protected areas under the constitutional classification of national park.
- Section 2 recognizes the common ecological values of protected areas and that effective administration requires cooperation among the national government, LGUs, concerned NGOs, private organizations, and local communities.
- Section 2 requires that the use and enjoyment of protected areas be consistent with principles of biological diversity and sustainable development.
- Section 2 establishes the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) to encompass ecologically rich and unique areas and biologically important public lands that are habitats of rare and threatened species of plants and animals, biogeographic zones, and related ecosystems.
- Section 2 defines “protected areas” broadly to include terrestrial, wetland, or marine ecosystems and to recognize conservation areas and management regimes implemented by LGUs, local communities, and Indigenous Peoples (IPs).
- Section 2 directs the System to ensure full implementation of the Act, mobilization of resources for institutional mechanisms, and full scientific and technical support for conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem integrity, culture, and indigenous practices.
Definitions and Key Terms
- Section 3 defines Biological diversity / biodiversity as variability among living organisms from all sources, including terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems and ecological complexes, including diversity within species, between species, and of ecosystems.
- Section 3 defines Bioprospecting as research, collection, and utilization of biological and genetic resources for applying knowledge derived therefrom solely for commercial purposes.
- Section 3 defines Buffer zones as areas outside protected-area boundaries and immediately adjacent to them that need special development control to avoid or minimize harm to the protected area.
- Section 3 defines Protected area as identified portions of land and/or water set aside due to unique physical and biological significance, managed to enhance biological diversity and protected against destructive human exploitation.
- Section 3 defines Poaching to include gathering, collecting, or possessing products or natural resources from the protected area by any person, corporation, or entity, and, for marine protected areas, operating foreign fishing vessels without a permit.
- Section 3 defines Protected Area Retained Income Account as the trust fund administered by the Protected Area Management Boards (PAMBs) representing seventy-five percent (75%) of revenues generated to support operation and management.
- Section 3 defines Strict nature reserve, Natural park, Natural biotic area, Natural monument, and Wildlife Sanctuary by function and protection character as set out in Section 3.
- Section 3 defines Wetlands, Wildlife, Genetically modified organism (GMO), Invasive alien species, Kaingin, Multiple-use zone, Quarrying, Conveyance, Delineation, Demarcation, and Occupying with the specific scopes and meaning set out in Section 3.
Protected Areas Coverage and Establishment
- Section 5(a) designates as initial components of the System all areas or islands in the Philippines previously proclaimed, designated, or set aside under various protected-area categories, including national park, game refuge, bird and wildlife sanctuary, wilderness area, strict nature reserve, watershed, mangrove reserve, fish sanctuary, natural and historical landmark, protected and managed landscape/seascape, and old growth forests identified before the Act’s effectivity or still to be identified.
- Section 5(a) provides that the initial components are governed by existing laws, rules, and regulations not inconsistent with Republic Act No. 11038.
- Section 5(a.1) establishes additional parcels of land and/or bodies of water as protected areas within the constitutional classification of national park, listing named protected areas with provinces/locations and areas (in hectares) within the Act’s table.
- Section 5(a.1) adopts the boundaries and technical descriptions in the attached annexes, certified accurate on every page by the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA), and makes them an integral part of the Act.
- Section 5(a.1) directs that the DENR, with other government agencies as necessary, shall delineate and demarcate boundaries on the ground, and those boundaries shall not be modified except by an act of Congress.
- Section 5(a.2) requires that within three (3) years from the Act’s effectivity, the DENR shall prepare remaining initial components by: (1) providing maps and technical descriptions, (2) conducting suitability assessment, and (3) conducting public consultations.
- Section 5(a.2) mandates that any initial component that fails the requirements in the three (3) years period shall be disestablished under Section 7.
- Section 5(b) requires public availability of DENR records pertaining to designated protected areas, including maps, technical descriptions or natural boundaries, rules and regulations, and public notices and reports submitted to Congress on pending additions, eliminations, or modifications.
- Section 5(c) requires DENR suitability assessment for each proposed protected area and submission of a report to the President once completed, including: (1) a protected area occupants survey, (2) an ethnographic study, (3) a protected area resource profile, (4) land and water use plans, and (5) other background studies.
- Section 5(d) requires DENR public consultation steps, including: notice by publication in a newspaper of GENERAL CIRCULATION and other means thirty (30) days prior to consultation; consultation at locations near the proposed protected area; inviting LGUs, national agencies, people’s organizations (POs), and NGOs to submit position papers; and preparation of recommendations based on gathered views and comments.
- Section 5(e) provides that upon receipt of DENR recommendations, the President shall issue a proclamation establishing the proposed protected areas and providing protection measures until Congress enacts a final law declaring the areas part of the System.
- Section 5(f) provides that after review, the President shall recommend to the Senate and House the designations for reclassification of each area.
Additional Areas, Buffer Zones, Management Plan
- Section 6 allows additional areas with unique physical features, anthropological significance, and high biological diversity to be proposed for inclusion, but only through the DENR recommendation and the same procedure as the remaining initial components for legislative enactment.
- Section 8 empowers the DENR Secretary, upon the recommendation of the PAMB, to designate buffer zones to provide an extra layer of protection where restrictions may be applied.
- Section 8 requires that where designated buffer zones cover private lands, owners must design their development with due consideration to the protected area management plan.
- Section 7 requires that within one (1) year from the establishment of each protected area, a management plan must be formulated as the basic long-term framework for management and as guidance for annual operations plan and budget.
- Section 7 requires the management plan to promote adoption and implementation of innovative management techniques, including zoning, buffer zone management, habitat conservation and rehabilitation, diversity management, community organizing and development, socio-economic and scientific research, site-specific policy development, climate change adaptation and mitigation, disaster risk reduction and management, and gender and development.
- Section 7 requires harmonization of the management plan with the Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plan (ADSDPP) under Republic Act No. 8371, the LGUs’ Comprehensive Land Use Plans (CLUPs) under Republic Act No. 7160, and other local plans.
Government Structure: DENR, PAMB, PAMO
- Section 8 places NIPAS under the control and administration of the DENR through the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB).
- Section 8 empowers the DENR Secretary to issue system-wide rules and regulations; set standards, procedures, and protocols; deputize field officers and technical personnel; determine system-wide fees and charges; impose administrative fines and penalties; report on IPAF; designate PAMB chairpersons; enter into contracts and agreements; accept funds, gifts, or bequests for immediate disbursement in the interest of NIPAS; call on agencies and institutions for objectives; submit annual reports to the President and Congress; oversee guidelines for utilities within protected areas; limit expansion of settlement areas inside protected areas to original occupied areas by tenured migrants and indigenous communities; and perform other functions directed by the President.
- Section 9 requires a PAMB per protected area created within three (3) months after the Act’s effectivity for each protected area designated as initial component and established by presidential proclamation or declared by law.
- Section 9 sets the PAMB composition to include the DENR Regional Director as Chairperson, provincial governors (or representatives), a Senate member resident in the area (unless the Senator declines), district representatives (unless they decline), mayors (or representatives), barangay chairpersons, and regional directors of DA, NEDA, DOST, PNP, and DND.
- Section 9 requires three (3) NGO/PO representatives accredited by DENR and the provincial government (NGO/PO must exist at least five (5) years and have track record in or related to protected-area management), at least one (1) but not more than three (3) IP/ICC representatives recognized by NCIP, one academic institution representative with track record, and one private sector representative distinguished in a relevant profession or field.
- Section 9 provides that ex officio members serve for their term; NGO/PO and IP/ICC, academic, and private sector members are appointed by the DENR Secretary after a transparent and fair selection process and serve for three (3) years, renewable for another term.
- Section 9 requires PAMB members to serve without compensation except actual and necessary traveling and subsistence expenses; it also requires at least forty percent (40%) women among PAMB members pursuant to Republic Act No. 9710.
- Section 9 enumerates grounds for removal: more than three (3) consecutive unexcused absences, acts prejudicial to protected-area management (including those under Section 20), disassociation/termination of relationship with the represented office/organization, and conviction by final judgment.
- Section 10 (inserting Section 11-A) gives the PAMB powers and functions including: overseeing management; approving policies, plans, programs, proposals, agreements, and related documents; approving the management plan and ensuring harmonization with ADSDPP and land use and development plans; adopting a manual of operations; recommending deputation for enforcement; allocating financial resources and managing PA-RIA and other funds under accounting and budgeting rules; setting fees and charges under existing guidelines; issuing rules to resolve conflicts; recommending policy changes to DENR and other authorities; monitoring performance of the PASU and compliance of partners; recommending PASU designation/appointment from a shortlist; and assessing management effectiveness.
- Section 10 (inserting Section 11-A) requires PAMB members representing LGUs and national agencies to inform their constituents and ensure that Act-compliant PAMB policies, rules, regulations, programs, and projects are used as reference in their plans, policies, programs, and projects; failure is a basis for disciplinary action under administrative rules and penalties the PAMB may provide.
- Section 10 (inserting Section 11-B) establishes the Protected Area Management Office (PAMO) headed by a Protected Area Superintendent (PASU) with a permanent plantilla position and sufficient permanent support staff, to supervise day-to-day management, protection, and administration.
- Section 10 (inserting Section 11-B) requires the PASU to prepare the management plan (with stakeholder consultation), ensure integration of protected area plans and policies with relevant national and LGU plans, provide secretariat services to the PAMB and committees, formulate and recommend policies and programs, maintain a database management system, enforce relevant laws and regulations and assist prosecution, monitor and report implementation, request technical assistance, issue permits and clearances implementing the management plan subject to PAMB terms and conditions (with extraction and research collection permits still issued by relevant authorities but subject to prior PAMB clearance through the PASU), collect/receive fees and income with reporting to PAMB and DENR, and recommend annual work and financial plans for PAMB approval.
Environmental Clearance Requirement and Prohibited Acts
Section 11 requires that project proponents for development projects and activities with potentially significant adverse impacts, as determined by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), secure an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) under the Philippine EIS System.
Section 11 requires that for development projects and activities not environmentally critical, proponents must undertake an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) instead of a full-blown EIA.
Section 11 prohibits undertaking any project or activity without prior PAMB clearance.
Section 11 requires DENR to require submission of the PAMB clearance among other requirements before issuing an ECC.
Section 11 prohibits actual implementation without the required ECC under the Philippine EIA system.
Section 11 provides that violations of environmental laws, including those under the EIA system, are penalized accordingly.
Section 18 prohibits the following acts within protected areas, except as allowed by the nature of their categories and pursuant to rules and regulations governing them:
- (a) Poaching, killing, destroying, or disturbing any wildlife, including in private lands within the protected area.
- (b) Hunting, taking, collecting, or possessing any wildlife or by-products derived therefrom, including in private lands within the protected area, without the necessary permit, authorization, or exemption; the PASU as authorized by the PAMB may issue permits/authorizations/exemptions only for cullling, scientific research, specified exceptions under Section 27(a) of Republic Act No. 9147, or harvests of nonprotected species in multiple-use zones by tenured migrants and IPs.
- (c) Cutting, gathering, removing, or collecting timber within the protected area, including private lands therein, without necessary permit/authorization/certification of planted trees or exemption such as for culling exotic species; this is allowed only when done according to duly recognized IP/ICC subsistence practices.
- (d) Possessing or transporting outside the protected area any timber, forest products, wildlife, or by-products taken from the protected area other than exotic species whose culling is authorized under an appropriate permit.
- (e) Using fishing or harvesting gears and practices or variations that destroy coral reefs, seagrass beds, or other marine life and their associated habitats or terrestrial habitat as determined by the DA or DENR; mere possession of such gears within protected areas is prima facie evidence of use.
- (f) Dumping/throwing/using/causing dumping or placement in the protected area of toxic chemicals, noxious or poisonous substances, nonbiodegradable material, untreated sewage or animal waste or products in any state, including pesticides and hazardous substances under Republic Act No. 6969, when detrimental to protected areas, plants and animals, or inhabitants.
- (g) Operating any motorized conveyance within the protected area without PAMB permit, except when use is the only practical means of transportation of IPs/ICCs in accessing ancestral domain/land.
- (h) Altering, removing, destroying, or defacing boundary marks or signs.
- (i) Engaging in kaingin or causing forest fires inside the protected area.
- (j) Mutilating, defacing, destroying, excavating, vandalizing, or damaging natural formations, religious/spiritual/historical sites, artifacts, and other objects of natural beauty, scenic value, or objects of interest to IPs/ICCs.
- (k) Damaging and leaving roads and trails in damage condition.
- (l) Littering or depositing refuse or debris on the ground or in bodies of water.
- (m) Possessing or using blasting caps or explosives anywhere within the protected area.
- (n) Occupying or dwelling in any public land within the protected area without clearance from the PAMB.
- (o) Constructing, erecting, or maintaining any structure, fence, or enclosure; conducting any business enterprise; or doing such activities inconsistently with the duly approved management plan without prior PAMB clearance and required DENR permit.
- (p) Undertaking mineral exploration or extraction within the protected area.
- (q) Engaging in commercial or large-scale quarrying within the protected area.
- (r) Establishing or introducing exotic species, including GMOs or invasive alien species within the protected area.
- (s) Conducting bioprospecting within the protected area without prior PAMB clearance in accordance with existing guidelines; any commercial use of substances derived from nonpermitted bioprospecting is prohibited, and all revenue earned from illegal commercialization is forfeited and deposited as part of the IPAF (in addition to penalties).
- (t) Prospecting, hunting, or otherwise locating hidden treasures within the protected area.
- (u) Purchasing or selling, mortgaging, or leasing lands or portions of the protected area covered by any tenurial instrument.
- (v) Constructing any permanent structure within forty (40)-meter easement from the high water mark of any natural body of water or issuing a permit for such construction under Article 51 of Presidential Decree No. 1067; construction for common usage wharves and shoreline protection is permitted by the PAMB only after thorough EIA.
Penalties, Forfeiture, and Administrative Consequences
- Section 19 imposes penalties for violations, with criminal penalties expressed as fines, imprisonment ranges, and additional obligations where stated:
- (a) Violations of Section 20(a) to (e) are punished by a fine of not less than PHP 200,000 but not more than PHP 1,000,000 or imprisonment from one (1) year but not more than six (6) years, or both, plus damages of triple the value of the resources, or both.
- (b) Violations of Section 20(f) to (n) are punished by a fine of not less than PHP 200,000 but not more than PHP 1,000,000 or imprisonment from one (1) year but not more than six (6) years, or both.
- (c) Violations of Section 20(o) to (v) are punished by a fine of not less than PHP 1,000,000 but not more than PHP 5,000,000 or imprisonment from six (6) years but not more than twelve (12) years, or both.
- Section 19(d) imposes on the owner of existing facilities within a protected area under Section 24 a daily fine of PHP 50,000 if the facility’s existence and future plans and operations will be detrimental to the protected area.
- Section 19(d) provides that for every continuing violation, or if committed for thirty (30) days and reaching a total fine of PHP 500,000, the PAMB through the PASU and other deputized government entities must cause cessation of operation and either forfeit in favor of the PAMO or demolish the facility at the owner’s cost.
- Section 19(d) requires that if the facility is government-owned, the concerned agency must submit a plan for a substitute facility that complies with protected-area standards and, within one (1) year, execute the approved protected area management plan.
- Section 19(e) authorizes the DENR Secretary to impose administrative fines of not less than PHP 50,000 but not exceeding PHP 5,000,000 for violation of any rule, regulation, or provision of any agreement reached with the PAMB.
- Section 19(e) provides that if a court determines rehabilitation or restoration is required due to damage, the offender must restore or pay compensation for damages, with payment accruing to the IPAF.
- Section 19(e) authorizes the DENR, on the basis of a court order, to cause eviction of an offender from the protected area, and in emergencies to order immediate exit or departure with assistance from other enforcement agencies.
- Section 19(e) defines an emergency as a demonstrated impending threat to human life and biodiversity or to species within the ecosystem of the protected area.
- Section 19(e) provides that all minerals, timber, or species collected or removed from the protected area, including equipment, devices, conveyances, and firearms used in connection therewith are forfeited in favor of the government.
- Section 19(e) provides that any construction or improvement made by the offender is subject to confiscation by the PAMO, subject to due process.
- Section 19(e) requires confiscated or rescued protected animal species to be immediately turned over to the PAMO for rehabilitation and release to natural habitat; they may not be sold or disposed of in any manner.
- Section 19(e) requires valuation to take into account biodiversity and conservation considerations as well as aesthetic and scenic value, with DENR valuation presumed regular unless disproven by preponderance of evidence.
- Section 19(e) establishes corporate/association liability by making the president or manager directly liable if proven to have participated in or had actual knowledge of any violation by employees and laborers.
- Section 19(e) makes inducement, conspiracy, or forcing workers to commit prohibited acts grounds for liability as principal.
- Section 19(e) states that penalties are in addition to penalties under Republic Act No. 9072, Republic Act No. 9147, Republic Act No. 8550, and other related laws.
- Section 19 provides that conviction of a public officer or officer of the law from LGU or national government agencies carries the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from public office.
Rights Recognition and Continuity of Existing Uses
- Section 22 protects all property and private rights within protected areas and buffer zones that already exist and/or vested upon the Act’s effectivity, in accordance with existing laws.
- Section 22 requires that exercise of protected-area property and private rights be harmonized, as far as practicable, with the Act’s provisions.
- Section 22 requires recognition of existing rights, contracts, or agreements entered into by government for utilization of natural resources within protected areas, and their governance by Philippine laws.
- Section 22 provides that renewal of permits, contracts, and agreements is subject to the Act’s provisions; if permits/contracts/agreements are not renewed, the areas must be rehabilitated or res…