What is Environmental Planning?

The law that defines environmental planning is of 1978 vintage. This is Presidential Decree no. 1308 entitled “Law Regulating the Environmental Planning Profession in the Philippines” and promulgated on 02 March 1978 by then President Ferdinand Marcos.

Environmental planning is defined as “activities concerned with the management and development of land, as well as the preservation, conservation, and rehabilitation of the human environment” (Sec. 2[a]). The practice of environmental planning covers professional services in the form of technical consultation, plan preparation, and/or implementation involving the following:

(a) Development of a community, town, city, or region;

(b) Development of a site for a particular need such as housing, centers for activities concerned with research, education, culture, recreation, or government, industrial estates, agriculture, and water resources, including creating a spatial arrangements of buildings, utilities and communication routes;

(c) Land use and zoning plans for the management and development preservation, conservation, rehabilitation, and control of the environment; and,

(d) Pre-investment, pre-feasibility, and feasibility studies. (Sec. 3).

It is unlawful for any person to engage in the practice of environmental planning without having been registered pursuant to P.D. no. 1308.

JUNE IS THE MONTH OF THE MOUNTAINS

On 15 April 2002, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued Presidential Proclamation no. 176 declaring the year 2002 as the “Year of Mountains” as well as the month of June of every year as the “Month of the Mountains” in the Philippines. The said Proclamation was the answer to the United Nations General Assembly’s call for the sustainable development of forest resources. 

For the commemoration of the Month of the Mountains to be more effective, I believe that the policies of the National Government with regard to forest resources (e.g. logging, mining, etc.) must shift from highly extractive to regenerative economics. To do this, the following are my suggestions so that President GMA would have a legacy once she leaves the Presidency: 

1. Delineate and specifically identify the metes and bounds of forest lands, national parks, and other protected areas. Once boundaries are identified, provide clear boundary delineations such as the use of improvised fences. This is in accord with the provision of the Constitution. The President’s job is to make sure that it is implemented before she leaves the Office.

2. Establish measurable targets for the annual reduction of forest cover.

3. Establish in specific terms (e.g. percentage points) on how much of the forest covers could be used and how much should remain.

4. Formulate the National Land Use Plan Framework. Sec. 20(c) of the Local Government Code mandates LGUs to prepare a comprehensive land use plan (CLUP) enacted through a zoning ordinance. Majority of the LGUs have yet to formulate their respective CLUPs. As the Chief Executive, she has the authority to call on these local government officials to implement the law. To help them craft their respective CLUPs, it would be better if the National Government has a National Land Use Plan which would serve as a framework for the local CLUPs.

5. With regard to minerals, the policy should focus on the use of minerals based on the concept of carrying capacity. At the rate we’re going, it is crucial for the National Government to issue a moratorium on the issuance of mineral permits and licenses.

I believe that if the President would follow these simple suggestions, we would be able to give flesh to the letter of Proclamation no. 176. And in doing so, the commemoration of the Month of the Mountains would be more than just lip service. 

KICK THE HABIT!

Today, the world commemorates the World Environment Day with its 2008 slogan Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy (to learn more about this, click this link). This recognizes the need to focus on greenhouse emissions and the ways by which these will be reduced. 

I believe that Professor Oposa, my Law and Environment class Professor last semester, has a very innovative way to reduce our greenhouse emissions from motor vehicles. He is promoting the use of ‘man-powered mini-train’ and calls it by the name of ‘karusel’. This YouTube video (click this link) shows the making and the launching of this ‘karusel’.

The Karusel Prototype

Photo from Prof. Oposa 

The use of this ‘karusel’ is one of the best solutions not only to the world’s urban problems but also to our very unhealthy sedentary lifestyle. However, doubts with regard to the sustainability of this man-powered vehicle will usually arise. There might even have apprehensions, or worse, adverse reactions from the riding public. 

Indeed, the need to change the mindset of many Filipinos is very crucial for the sustainability and success of this very promising ‘karusel’. The use of the CPR economics (I will write more about this later), as recommended by Prof. Oposa, will be very helpful in this regard.  

ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNER BOARD EXAM

On 11-12 June 2008, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) through the Board of Environmental Planning will hold the Professional Licensure Examinations for Environmental Planners. A new set of Environmental Planners will again be available for multi-million projects.

I can vividly remember that during our time, which was actually just two years ago, I was very excited to take the said examinations. I had just finished  my Diploma course from the U.P. School of Urban and Regional Planning (UP-SURP- the only urban and regional planning school in the Philippines). I was so eager to practice Environmental Planning. No one can practice Environmental Planning in the Philippines without a license from the PRC. Fortunately (thanks to my prayers and my very capable professors from UP-SURP), I was able to survive the examinations despite me suffering from flu then. Unfortunately, one (1) out of the twelve (12) students/graduates from the UP-SURP who took the examinations failed.

I am the 574th licensed Environmental Planner in the Philippines. So far, considering the number of hopefuls that pass the EnP Board Exams every year, the Philippines has now have approximately 630 licensed Environmental Planners (this number includes those who have failed to renew their licenses).

One unsolicited advice for those who are going to take and successfully pass the EnP Board Exams this year- consider the profession as a vocation not a money-making business. I have heard a lot of stories from my colleagues that there are some who study Urban Planning and take the Board Exams just to be able to make money. It is true that an Environmental Planner can rake as much as a million per project (that is, if you have built a very good reputation as a Planner). However, the clients that badly need your service are not your multi-million real estate companies or your mutilateral agencies. The clients that badly need your service are your local government units, especially those categorized under the 3rd to 5th class categories.  

As an Environmental Planner, I would like to request the other licensed Environmental Planners and those who are to be licensed soon to share your expertise to our local government units. If you can, at least, take a pro bono project once a year or once very two years. The proof that I practice what I preach is my Plan.Works Co. I, together with the EnP Board Exams topnotcher in 2006, established this planning firm that primarily caters to local government units who cannot even afford to send their Planning and Development Officers to take special planning courses in UP-SURP. However, inspite the pro bono service that we offer, some local government officials and officers are still hesitant to engage us because this would still entail expenses for materials and transportation.

To the EnP hopefuls this year, God bless and may you share your expertise to our needy clients. 

Making the City a Home

The Great Manila Dream

The roads are painted with gold. High rise buildings are left and right signaling development. Employment opportunities are everywhere. Life seems so much comfortable and convenient because of the advanced technologies available. Public transport provides easy access to anywhere in the city. Public utilities, such as water, electricity and telecommunications, are at their best. Health services being provided are among, if not the best, in the country. The best education can be accessed in our major cities where the premiere colleges and universities are found. The seat of power is also located in the heart of one of the major cities in the country- the imperial Manila.

This is how most of the promdis (colloquial term for people coming from the provinces) who had never set foot on the "gold painted" roads of Metro Manila or in any other cities of the country look at the life in the city. Until you live and experience life in the city by yourself and have the taste of the life being offered by it, your ivory coated image of the life in cities would be shattered.

The City as Seen by its Dwellers

…a place where dying river ends

no birds there fly over Paraiso

no space allows them to endure.

the smoke that screens the air

the grass that’s never there…

- Ryan Cayabyab (Paraiso)

Once you have immersed yourself in the life the city has to offer, gradually you would realize that the life in the city could not even approximate the tip of your utopic image of it.

The environment is not conducive for healthy living. It seems that the city has invented every possible kind of pollution- from the very common air and water pollution to land and noise pollution. Air is not conducive to having healthy lungs for almost every toxic substance is already present in the air. The water is not fit for drinking. Try to drink water coming directly from the faucet and there is a high probability of you getting amoebiasis or other intestinal infections. The state of our "potable" water led to a boom in a new industry- that of purified drinking water. In almost every block, there is at least one purified drinking water station bragging the number of stages of water purification that they offer.

The state of our rivers flowing along the metropolis has worsened. They can not even reflect the colors of the blue sky because they have turned black due to water pollution. Fish kills are more often. Every year, the rivers in the metropolis are becoming worse and worse. They are on the verge of becoming lifeless- actually some have already lost its capacity to support freshwater life for so many years now. Life in these bodies of water is virtually non-existent.

Waste management is also a problem in the city. Solid and liquid wastes are not properly disposed. Tons of garbage are being produced by the cities everyday. Some cities even have to look for dumpsite outside their locality because of the problem in space. Liquid effluents are directly dumped into the bodies of water mainly because it is the most convenient and the cheapest in terms of costs that the industries have to bear.

The cities in the Philippines, specifically in Metropolitan Manila, have been overcrowded. People are migrating to the cities because of the misconceptions that life is easier in the city. The cities are congested not just by people but also by automobiles. Traffic has been a perennial problem. So much time and energy are wasted due to traffic. Low income families and the rest of the urban poor amass the slums and squatter areas. Increase in population results to stiff competition in employment opportunities and even in the availability of social services. The yawning gap between the rich and the poor is evident in the cities. The right to privacy due to lack of personal space has been gradually lost. Safety and security are less insured in the cities rather than in the countryside. The cities are becoming more and more overcrowded.

City life has turned into a nightmare for some of its dwellers. Everybody lives in a fast-paced life where people are busy making a living. It results to a very stressful life, which aggravates the health conditions of the city dwellers. The city has turned the life of its dwellers into a mechanical one where each is busy making a living and forgetting to live. What would then make a livable city?

Making the City a Home

My own concept of a livable city is anchored on the principle that man does not live by bread alone. By bread, I refer to it both literally and figuratively. However, this would not mean that the physical needs of the residents of the city would be ignored. It is only through the attainment of these physical and security needs that the higher levels of needs be satisfied. It is therefore then of high importance that the city is able to provide these basic needs. A livable city therefore should be able to provide employment and livelihood opportunities, public utilities, and social services among others.

A livable city is a city without so much congestion. There are spaces for recreations and the form is well planned. That is, there would be lesser need to commute through automobiles. Majority of the activities of the residents is accessed on foot. The concept of pedestrianization of the city would be of great help to make it livable. In terms of its physical appearance, eyesores are at a minimum and urban blight and decay are easily prevented. Slums and squatters are not present because the city’s capacity to support the needs of its residents is still within reach.

But there is so much beyond city being able to provide for effective, efficient, and accessible social services and public utilities. It is more than just securing the lives and properties of the residents of the city. I believe that a livable city must provide more than the physical and security needs of the people. More important is the ability of the city to provide and promote the well-being of its residents.

After the city could provide for the physical and security needs, the livable city should also be able to provide for the needs of the residents, which are social in nature. These needs concern more on the social well-being of an individual, which are usually conceived as intangible needs but are more important than the physical and security needs. A livable city is a city which could be considered as a home of the residents, not just a place where a part of their life is being spent such as work. It should be at least playing a major role in the lives of the city dwellers. A livable city should not just be considered as a mere structure. It should not be devoid of the "social aspects" of the lives of men. The livable city put the social lives of its residents as the core or the foci of the city’s existence.

In stepping into a higher level of human needs, a livable city provides for the cultural concerns of the people. The historical aspect of the lives of the people should not be taken for granted. It would serve as a strong foundation for the further social development of the city residents. Knowing one’s roots provides for self-esteem and dignity. Historical landmarks and other proofs of the change in the lives of the people should not be taken for granted. Philippine cities are quite eager to embrace development and neglect historical and even environmental aspects of the city. The need to address the future generation should not be ignored. Respecting history does not mean being stuck in a space and time where everything seems constant.  A livable city also has respect for posterity where future generations are not taken for granted. There is respect for the natural resources of the city. Pollution is minimized. Health is being nourished.

Self-actualization, the highest level of human needs, although very difficult to attain, should also be addressed by a city to make it livable. Economic growth and infrastructure developments are not enough to be self-actualized. It is more than that. And the city to be able to just even try to attain such need would make a lot of difference than just those cities dying to provide physical and security needs alone. Self-actualization provides contentment among its residents.

A livable city addresses the happiness and comfort of its dwellers- happiness not just in material things but more on emotional, intellectual and even spiritual needs. More than food, clothing, employment and public utilities, the city to be livable must address the social needs of its residents.

…that if I could see a single bird, what a joy

 this tired and hungry land could expect

some truth and hope and respect from the rest

of the world…

-R. Cayabyab

Considering the idea of a livable city as discussed above, the cities in the Philippines still have so many things to do to attain livability. For instance, cities in Metro Manila can not even provide enough services for its residents. This hinders the ability of the city to focus more on non-material things. This leads to the neglect of the culture and emotional aspects of the dwellers. Considering the idea presented above on the city’s livability, the cities in Metro Manila are just scratching the tip of being livable. A livable city is a city where there is respect for both physical and social aspects of the city.