PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law that mandates state universities and colleges to craft a land use development and infrastructure plan (LUDIP) to ensure "rational, holistic, efficient and just allocation, utilization, development and management" of the country's land resources.
Under Republic Act (RA) 11396 inked by Duterte on August 22, all SUCs are directed to submit their respective LUDIPs to the Commission on Higher Education (Ched).
"All state universities and colleges, through their governing boards, shall be required to prepare and implement a LUDIP designed to improve and optimally utilize their resources," the law said.
"All land use or infrastructure projects of the SUCs shall also be required to follow the LUDIP, which shall be linked with the land use plan and practice of the local government units to ensure complementation of activities across geographical boundaries," it added.
RA 11396 requires SUCs to follow their respective development plans for their future infrastructure projects.
The law states that SUCs should include in their LUDIP the campus planning framework, principles and processes, including master development plans.
The plan should also contain detailed geographical description and survey of the site occupied by an SUC, including all idle lands and campuses, branches or extension sites titled under its name.
It should also have an inventory of all existing buildings, facilities, and other infrastructure within the compound or areas occupied by the SUCs.
The LUDIP should also include the cadastral survey of SUC-occupied lands, as well as the detailed descritpion of the research core, academic core, and residential areas covering both housing for faculty and dormitories for students.
Ths detailed geographical description of land used for commercial, agriculture, fishery, forestry, and other activities, including open and recreational spaces, landscape features, and campus transportation system should also be in the development plan.
SUCs should also list in its LUDIP its design and estimated cost of construction, operation, maintenance of other infrastructure needs, as well as its financial plan.
The law allows SUCs to seek help from Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB), University of the Philippines School of Urban and Regional Planning (UP-SURP), Department of Public Works and Highways, and Land Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in developing their plan.
RA 11396 tasks the Ched, UP-SURP and HLURB to design capacity building programs for SUCs to enable them to develop and prepare suitable land use plans.
The Ched is also directed to formulate implementing rules and regulations for the effective implementation of the law.
The law, a copy of which was made public just on Wednesday August 28, takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper. (SunStar Philippines)