A zoning
ordinance is defined as a local city or municipal legislation which logically
arranges, prescribes, defines and apportions a given political subdivision into
specific land uses as present and future projection of needs[1] The power
to establish zones for industrial, commercial and residential uses is derived
from the police power itself and is exercised for the protection and benefit of
the residents of a locality in order to control the use of land and the control
of density of population for the protection and promotion of public health,
safety, and welfare and to achieve specific developmental goals such as: (1) to
guide, control and regulate future growth
and development of the City in accordance with its Comprehensive Land Use Plan;
(2) to protect the character and stability of residential, commercial,
institutional, parks and recreational spaces, and other functional areas within
the locality and promote the orderly and beneficial development of the same;
(3) to help ensure the continued growth of the City; (4) to regulate the
location, use, and density of buildings and land in such a manner as to avoid
unnecessary congestion and demand on utilities and services, and to enhance
convenience of access to property and to safety from fire and other dangers;
and (6) to enhance the participation of the City’s constituents in the
development of their communities[2].
Zoning is a constitutionally mandated
undertaking and upheld its constitutionality based on jurisprudence of United
States from which our zoning ordinance was originated (see History of Philippine Zoning). The State declares its land use policies and
principles in terms of relation to national economy and patrimony as well as
its police power for the promotion of public health, public safety, public
interest, public order, and general welfare.
CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS RELATED TO
ZONING
1. “The
use of property bears a social function and all economic agents shall
contribute to the common good, individuals and private groups, including
corporations, cooperatives and similar collective organizations, shall have the
right to own, establish and operate economic enterprises subject to the duty of
the state to promote distributive justice and to intervene when common good
demands.” (Article XIII, Section1);
2. “The
Congress shall give highest priority to the enactment of measures that protect
and enhance the right of all the people to human dignity, reduce social and
economic inequalities…To this end, the state shall regulate the acquisition,
ownership use, and disposition of property and its increments.” Article XIII,
Section 1);
3. “Prescribe reasonable limits and restraints on the
use of property within the jurisdiction of the municipality; Adopt a comprehensive land use plan for the
municipality: Provided, That the formulation, adoption, or modification of said
plan shall be in coordination with the approved provincial comprehensive land
use plan; Reclassify land within
the jurisdiction of the municipality, subject to the pertinent provisions of
this Code; Enact integrated
zoning ordinances in consonance with the approved comprehensive land use plan,
subject to existing laws, rules and regulations; establish fire limits or
zones, particularly in populous centers; and regulate the construction, repair
or modification of buildings within said fire limits or zones in accordance
with the provisions of the Fire Code.” (Section 447 A.2 vi-ix, Local
Government Code);
DECREES
AND ISSUANCES RELATED TO ZONING
4. “It
is hereby declared to be the policy of the government to foster the growth and
renewal of communities, both rural and urban, in an integrative manner that
promotes optimum land use, adequate shelter, environmental protection,
utilization of appropriate technology and rational interdependence among
self-reliant communities” (P.D. 1396);
5. Executive
Order No. 72, series of 1993 (Providing for the Preparation and Implementation
of the Comprehensive Land Use Plans of Local Government Units Pursuant to the
Local Government Code of 1991 and other Pertinent Laws), gives the HLURB the
power to review and ratify land use plans of highly urbanized cities, viz[3] :
“(a) Cities and municipalities shall continue to
prepare or update their comprehensive land use plans, in conformity with the
land use planning standards and guidelines prescribed by HLRB
(HLURB) pursuant to EO 392, S. of 1990, and other pertinent national policies.
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“(c)
Cities and municipalities of Metropolitan Manila shall continue to
formulate or update their respective comprehensive land use plans, in
accordance with the land use planning and zoning standards and guidelines
prescribed by the HLRB pursuant to EO 392, S. of 1990, and other pertinent
national policies;
6.
(e) Pursuant
to LOI 729, S. of 1987, EO 648, S. of 1981 and RA 7279, the comprehensive land
use plans of provinces, highly-urbanized cities and independent component
cities shall be reviewed and ratified by the HLURB to ensure compliance with
national standards and guidelines”.
“(f) Pursuant to EO 392 S. of 1990, the
comprehensive land use plans of cities and municipalities of Metropolitan
Manila shall be reviewed by HLURB to ensure compliance with national standards
and guidelines”.
7. “Municipalities
shall submit their land use plans, enforcement system and implementing
guidelines, including zoning ordinance to the Ministry of Human Settlements
through the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) for review and
ratification.” (Letter of Instruction No. 729);
8. Executive
Order No. 648
Section 5, Article II
“(a) To promulgate zoning and other land use
control standards and guidelines which shall govern land use plans and zoning
ordinances of local governments”
9. The Local Government Code of 1991
Section
468, 2, Article III, Chapter 3, Book III
“(vii)
Review the comprehensive land use plans and zoning ordinances
of component cities and municipalities and adopt a comprehensive
provincial land use plan, subject to existing law
References:
1. Philippine Constitution
2. 1991 Local Government Code, As Amended
3. The Model
Zoning Ordinance. HLURB. Fourth Revision. S. 1996
4. G.R. No. 157118. December 8, 2003
5. G.R.
No. 156502, 13 February
2008, 545 SCRA 92, 139-140
6. Zoning Ordinance and its Legal Implications. Unpublished Thesis. AUSL, 2007.
[1] G.R. No. 156502, 13
February 2008, 545 SCRA 92, 139-140
[2] The
Model Zoning Ordiannce. HLURB. Fourth Revision. S. 1996
[3] G.R. No. 157118. December 8, 2003
