PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo directed all local government units (LGUs) and their respective development councils to review, revise, and formulate new land use plans and programs including provisions of socialized housing amid threats of climate change.

The President, in issuing Executive Order (EO) 841 last October 26, said the recent typhoons that led to landslides and flooding resulted in deaths and injuries to hundreds and damaged properties including agriculture and trade.

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She said this also put "into a shadow of doubt the effectiveness of the development plans of local government units thereby amplifying the need to identify lands for social housing, relocation and resettlement."

She cited that under Republic Act 7279 or the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992, all LGUs are required to conduct an inventory of available lands including the improvements every three years and submit it to the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC).

She said the same law had also tasked the NHA to relocate all persons living in dangerous areas danger areas like esteros, railroad tracks, garbage dumps, riverbanks, shorelines, waterways and other public areas like parks, playground, roads and sidewalks within two years after RA 7279 was passed.

Under the EO, Arroyo instructed LGUs to form Task Forces that would oversee the updating, reformulating and formulating of a Comprehensive Land Use Plans (Clups) and ensure its completion and implementation within the next six months.

The Task Force, comprised of the local development councils, will be chaired by the local chief executives, while a Secretariat shall to support the body shall be provided by the HUDCC and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

The Task Force is directed to identify and have an inventory of government-owned lands that have not been used for its original intended purpose for the past 10 years and have it transferred to the National Housing Authority for development for socialized housing, resettlement and relocation.

The Task Force shall also formulate the mechanics for the relocation and resettlement of persons from danger areas like esteros, railroad tracks, garbage dumps, riverbanks, shorelines, waterways and other public areas like parks, playground, roads and sidewalks.

They shall also ensure that basic services and facilities that would address the needs of the families to be transferred, including access to employment and livelihood, are provided in the new areas.

The Task Force shall also submit a completed Clup that has been approved by the LGUs respective city or municipal council and a status reports on their implementation, to the President through the Presidential Management Staff within six months. (JMR/Sunnex)