- CHERYL G. CRUZ
The Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) of the highly-urbanized Bacolod City is up for ratification by the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), the National Economic and Development Authority 6 said Thursday, May 12.
This as DHSUD Secretary Eduardo Del Rosario approved the 2021-2029 CLUP of Iloilo City in a hybrid ceremony held at the Central Office boardroom, also Thursday.
The Regional Land Use Committee in Western Visayas transmitted the finalized CLUP of Bacolod City to the DHSUD on April 28, 2022, and the CLUP of Iloilo City on Sept. 27, 2021.
The CLUP ratification by the secretary of the DHSUD is the final stage of the review and approval of the plan documents, the NEDA 6 said in a press release, adding that in an unprecedented feat, the RLUC 6 completed the review of the CLUPs of the two highly-urbanized cities in the region in two separate special sessions within one year, and with the highest participation rate of its members actively collaborating in the review.
The NEDA said 17 out of the 18 reviewing members of the RLUC, composed of government agencies and the private sectors, submitted their review inputs. “These are crucial to the refinement of the CLUPs to ensure their quality and compliance with existing government rules and regulations as well as planning practices.”
The review of the CLUPs also adopted a hybrid protocol, a first of its kind, considering the safety of the reviewers against COVID-19 and the logistical challenges in previous practices.
“We imposed an alternative to face-to-face gatherings and took advantage of the technology available. An online one-stop shared folder replaced the usual hard copy dissemination. Members are also guided by the standardized review forms so that their assessment parameters only focus within their mandates,” said Joyalita Tigres, chief economic development specialist of the Policy Formulation and Planning Division, and technical coordinator and secretary of RLUC VI.
The pilot implementation of the online one-stop shared folder was done during the review of Iloilo City’s CLUP last May-August 2021, which proved successful, and was also utilized in the review of the CLUP of Bacolod on December-March 2022.
The Bacolod CLUP is expected to be ratified by the DHSUD before the change in administration. | CGC
