How We Prepared the CLUP of Lavezares

After more than three years, the municipality of Lavezares, Northern Samar finally has its new and enhanced-Comprehensive Land Use Plan for 2022-2031. It was long and tedious but it was worth it because enshrined in the CLUP is the blueprint for development of the municipality for the next ten years. Imagine a ship without a compass and a local government unit without a CLUP.

According to the CLUP’s Guidebook Volume I (HLURB, 2013), “the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) shall determine the specific uses of land and other physical and natural resources, both private and public, within their territorial jurisdiction including areas co-managed with the national government and, as appropriate, management plans for ancestral domains, critical watersheds, river basins, and protected areas. The CLUP shall delineate actual boundaries on the ground within the territorial jurisdiction, embody the desired land use patterns of the barangay, city or municipality, translate and integrate sectoral plans, and provide appropriate policies for each of the four land use planning categories.”

Guided by the HLURB’s Guidebooks, we were able to navigate all the CLUP’s parts because of the LGU’s support especially on the financial and human resource aspects and the participation of all the stakeholders.

While observing the 12-step process, the entire tasks became even more workable because we have laid down the necessary materials and manpower from start to end.

Based on my experience, I consider the following as crucial in crafting the CLUP:

1.  Have an updated Ecological Profile. CLUP is an evidence-based plan. All throughout the process, a comprehensive and reliable dataset are needed. This is usually the stumbling block of most local planners. Data gathering is what usually drags the CLUP process for years and even to no end.

2.  Aside from the Planning Team, there should be a core technical working group doing the ground work. While I facilitate and supervise the entire process and write the technical document, I have in my team two GIS experts; one of which is an engineer who was also tasked on working on the zone maps and boundaries. I also have two technical staff who worked on the Climate and Disaster Risk Assessment (CDRA).

3.  The planning team and technical people should attend all trainings being conducted by the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) (then HLURB). It is good that for a number of years, HLURB then had conducted series of modular training-workshops; all of which we were able to attend. In regard to CDRA, we have invited a CDRA trainer from the DILG Provincial Office.

4.     Secure the cooperation of the punong barangays. We have, by the way, conducted several planning workshops with the barangays as well as focus group discussions. We surveyed each of the barangay when we were formulating the proposed land use classifications. Engaging them in the planning process makes the CLUP grounded and reflective of present realities.

5.     Never stop working until it is done. The real work for our CLUP started in March 2019 and had it submitted to the DHSUD Regional Office in November 2022 and have it approved by the Provincial Land Use Committee (PLUC) in January 2023 which made it 35 months in the making and that included the CDRA survey and report. In May 2023, the local sanggunian approved the CLUP and the Zoning Ordinance. And finally, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan approved it on July 2023. Had it not been to the pandemic, we could have finished earlier.

6.     Always seek the assistance of the DHSUD and the secretariat of the PLUC.

Once the CLUP and the Zoning Ordinance are already approved, it really is a wonderful feeling and a great relief knowing that the LGU now has clear direction, at least, on paper. Implementing the plan and the policy is another thing.