PCSD Rules on Cave Management in Palawan

Legal basis and governing framework

The Order is issued pursuant to Section 11 of Republic Act No. 9072 and implements the cave management rules under Republic Act No. 9072.
The Order adopts and revises DENR cave rules and regulations as applicable in Palawan, in line with PCSD Resolution No. 03-217.
Section 4 identifies the PCSD as the lead implementing agency by virtue of RA 7611 and the Strategic Environmental Plan for Palawan.
Section 4 coordinates implementation with provisions under Republic Act No. 7160, Republic Act No. 4846, Presidential Decree No. 1505-78, and ecotourism issuances including Executive Order No. 111 and Joint DENR-DOT Memorandum Circular No. 98-02.

Policy and purpose for cave management

Section 1 declares State policy to conserve, protect, and manage caves and cave resources as part of the country’s natural wealth.
Section 1 requires strengthening cooperation and exchange of information between government authorities and users of caves and cave resources for scientific, educational, recreational, tourism, and other purposes.
Section 1 requires promoting the widest participation of different sectors in planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating cave activities.

Coverage: where and what applies

Section 2 applies to all caves and cave resources within public domain and private lands in Palawan.
Section 2 excludes manmade excavation, vug, mine tunnel, and aqueducts from coverage under this Order.
Section 6 applies to caves within private lands and requires landowners to obtain the required PCSD permits for use, collection, or removal of cave resources.
Section 7 applies to caves within ancestral domains/lands, requiring Free and Prior Informed Consent for management and protection activities.

Key definitions for implementing rules

Section 3.1 defines “Ancestral domains” as areas generally belonging to Indigenous Peoples, held under claims of ownership, occupied or possessed by Indigenous Peoples since time immemorial, and includes ancestral lands, forests, pasture, residential, agricultural and other lands, hunting and burial grounds, worship areas, bodies of water, mineral and other natural resources, and related traditional access areas.
Section 3.2 defines “Archaeology” as the scientific study of material remains such as fossils, relics, artifacts, features and monuments of past human life and activities, and cultural remains.
Section 3.4 defines “Cave” as any naturally occurring void/cavity/recess/system of interconnected passages under the earth or within a cliff or ledge large enough for entry, including natural pit/sinkhole/features, but excluding vug, mine tunnel, aqueduct, and other manmade excavation.
Section 3.5 defines “Cave resources” to include animal life and plant life, paleontological and archaeological deposits, cultural artifacts, products of human activities, sediments, minerals, speleogens, and speleothems, including animal derivatives such as edible birds’ nests and guano.
Section 3.14 defines “Significant Cave” as a cave containing materials or possessing features with archaeological, cultural, ecological, historical, or scientific value determined by the PCSD in coordination with the scientific community and the academe.
Section 3.16 defines “Speleogen” as relief features on cave walls/ceilings/floors that are part of surrounding bedrock, including listed types of solution/volcanic features.
Section 3.17 defines “Speleothem” as natural mineral formations or deposits in a cave or lava tube, including stalactite, stalagmite, helictite, cave flower, flowstone, drapery, rim stone, and clay/mud formations.

PCSD role and coordinated agencies

Section 4 makes the PCSD the lead implementing agency for cave management in Palawan and requires coordination with designated agencies.
Section 4.1 requires coordination with LGUs for management and protection pursuant to Republic Act No. 7160.
Section 4.2 requires coordination with the National Museum for caves assessed with cultural, paleontological, and archaeological values under Republic Act No. 4846.
Section 4.3 requires coordination with the National Historical Institute for caves assessed with historical value under Presidential Decree No. 1505-78.
Section 4.4 requires coordination with the Department of Tourism for ecotourism promotion and cave visitor management under Executive Order No. 111 and Joint DENR-DOT Memorandum Circular No. 98-02.
Section 5 authorizes the PCSD to plan, provide technical assistance, monitor, evaluate, and enter MOAs with LGUs, government agencies, NGOs, people’s organizations, academe, and other concerned entities for conservation, protection, development, and management.
Section 5.6 authorizes the PCSD to issue permits for the collection and removal of guano and other cave resources, and Section 5.7 requires determination of appropriate bonds and fees for permit issuance.

Regulation of caves and cave resources

Section 6 provides that caves and cave resources are owned by the State.
Section 6 requires landowners with caves inside private lands to secure a permit from the PCSD for the use, collection, or removal of any cave resource found therein.
Section 6 requires the PCSD to regulate resource utilization outside caves within private lands, including harvesting of planted trees, to preserve cave integrity.
Section 6 allows private landowners to enter into a Tripartite MOA or MOU with the PCSD and the concerned LGU for conservation, management, and protection.
Section 7 requires the PCSD to secure Free and Prior Informed Consent of concerned Indigenous People for management and protection of caves and cave resources within ancestral domains/lands, consistent with Republic Act No. 8371.
Section 7 requires research and other activities by other agencies or entities in such caves to be subject to the Free and Prior Informed Consent of the concerned Indigenous People.
Section 8 requires caves in other public lands (not within ancestral domains/lands and protected areas) to be managed in coordination with the agencies listed in Section 4.
Section 11 requires that any person or institution discovering a cave report its location to the nearest PCSDS office, and requires the PCSD to plan appropriate activities based on the report.
Section 12 provides that caves may be used for scientific, economic, educational, ecotourism, and other purposes based on assessment and classification.
Section 12 requires the PCSD to determine appropriate use and allowable activities; such activities may be subject to the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) System and other applicable rules.
Section 12 requires the PCSD to set open and close seasons for collection of animal derivatives (including edible bird’s nests) and other cave resources, including quantity, quality, and size limits.
Section 14 requires the PCSD, in coordination with the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau of the DENR, the DOT, the National Museum, and the NHI, to formulate a policy on treasure hunting in caves within six (6) months from effectivity of the Order.

Classification, information control, and programs

Section 9 provides that information concerning the nature and specific location of a potentially significant cave is not made available to the public within one (1) year after discovery.
Section 9 requires assessment of such cave values during the one (1) year period by the PCSDS, coordinated with the DOT, NM, NHI, concerned LGUs, scientific community, and the academe.
Section 9 permits disclosure before the one (1) year period upon a written request and PCSD approval, after determining that disclosure will further Republic Act No. 9072 and will not create substantial risk or harm, theft, or destruction on such cave.
Section 9 requires written requests to include:
- (a) description of the geographic site;
- (b) explanation of the purpose for which the information is sought; and
- (c) assurance/undertaking satisfactory to the PCSD that adequate measures protect confidentiality and prevent destruction and vandalism and unauthorized zoning.
Section 9 requires the PCSDS, coordinated with the DOT, NM, and NHI, to prepare a list of caves assessed and classified within one (1) year from issuance and to periodically update it.
Section 9 requires the PCSD, prior to issuance of the list, to determine whether the cave can be publicly known and what information materials to follow suit.
Section 10 requires the Palawan Cave Management, Protection and Conservation Program (PCMPCP) to be formulated by the PCSD in coordination with concerned agencies.
Section 10 requires the PCMPCP to cover present programs and initiatives involving cave ecosystem and its resources, and to include joint undertakings with or in support of other government units, NGOs, people’s organizations, and international entities.
Section 10 provides the PCMPCP components:
- 10.1 Cave Resource Assessment;
- 10.2 Resource Management and Utilization;
- 10.3 Conservation, Education, and Public Awareness;
- 10.4 Human Resource Development; and
- 10.5 Research and Development.
Section 10 requires each municipality to create its own Municipal Cave Committee (MCC) chaired by its local chief executive or duly authorized representative, with representatives from coordinating agencies, academe, and NGOs, among others.

Uses and permit system

Section 13 provides that permits for extraction of edible bird’s nest may be issued by the PCSD to concessionaires only upon submission of a management plan and posting of a bond to ensure compliance with permit conditions.
Section 13 provides that the PCSD may issue permits to individual nest gatherers, subject to PCSD terms and conditions.
Section 13 provides that visitor permits for caves classified for ecotourism shall be issued by the PCSD upon prior clearance from the appropriate tourism office.
Section 13 prohibits the PCSD from issuing permits for removal of stalactites and stalagmites or any cave resources when such removal will adversely affect the value of a significant cave.

Enforcement powers, seizure, and administrative forfeiture

Section 15 requires the PCSD to deputize Cave Protection Enforcement Officers (CPEOs) from Barangay LGUs, locally based NGOs, community organizations, Indigenous People, and other volunteers who have undergone necessary training.
Section 15 allows members of the Philippine National Police, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the National Bureau of Investigation, and other law enforcement agencies to be designated as CPEOs.
Section 15 grants deputized CPEOs full authority to seize objects and arrest violators of Republic Act No. 9072 and this Order, subject to existing laws, rules and regulations on arrest and seizure.
Section 15 provides that free legal assistance may be extended to CPEOs.
Section 16 requires the PCSD to order seizure and confiscation, in favor of the government, of gathered, collected, removed, possessed, or sold cave resources, including the conveyances and equipment used in violation of Section 7 of RA 9072 and Section 17 of this Order.
Section 16 provides that the procedure on seizure, confiscation, and forfeiture is governed by relevant existing rules and regulations and appropriate PCSD Administrative Orders.

Prohibited acts and criminal penalties

Section 17 prohibits knowingly destroying, disturbing, defacing, marring, altering, removing, or harming a cave’s speleogen or speleothem, or altering free movement of any animal or plant life in or out of any cave.
Section 17 prohibits gathering, collecting, possessing, consuming, selling, bartering, exchanging, or offering for sale without authority any cave resource.
Section 17 prohibits counseling, procuring, soliciting, or employing any other person to violate any provision of Section 17.
Section 18 provides that any person found guilty of prohibited acts under Section 17 is punished by imprisonment from two (2) years to six (6) years or a fine ranging from Twenty Thousand Pesos (P20,000.00) to Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (P500,000.00) or both, at the discretion of the Court.
Section 18 provides enhanced penalties for the person furnishing the capital to accomplish the acts: imprisonment from six (6) years and one (1) day to eight (8) years or a fine ranging from Five Hundred Thousand (P500,000.00) to One Million Pesos (P1,000,000.00) or both, at the discretion of the Court.
Section 18 requires restoration where rehabilitation and/or restoration is needed and determined by the Court: the offender must restore when practical or compensate for the damage.
Section 18 provides that if the offender is a government employee, he or she shall be removed from the Office.

Fees, bonds, and funds

Section 19 requires that money collected by the PCSD as permit fees for collection and removal of cave resources, as a result of forfeiture of a bond or other security by a permitee who does not comply, or as fines for violations, be remitted to the National Treasury.
Section 19 allows the PCSD to establish a Special Trust Fund for management of caves and cave resources under Republic Act No. 9072.
Section 19 requires that all fees and charges be reviewed and updated periodically.
Section 20 requires posting a bond by applicants to guarantee payments for whatever actual damages may be incurred during and after the operation/undertaking.
Section 20 provides that the bond requirement does not apply to applicants applying for a Gratuitous Permit, as determined by the PCSD.

Appropriations, transitory rules, and final clauses

Section 21 requires the PCSD and concerned agencies to include in their General Appropriations Act funds for implementation of the Order.
Section 22 requires that all existing contracts, agreements, permits, and other tenurial arrangements entered into by concerned agencies/persons are respected; upon expiration, authority to enter into them rests on the PCSD pursuant to Section 4 of Republic Act No. 9072.
Section 23 provides separability: if any provision is declared unconstitutional, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect.
Section 24 provides that all inconsistent orders, memoranda, circulars, rules, and regulations, or parts thereof, are repealed and/or amended accordingly.