YEA 1 QUARTER 2

As the implementing arm of the NDRRMC, the Office of Civil Defense had met with the WILUP project team for a meeting held on April 7, 2022. Discussion mostly revolved on the formulation of watershed plans and facilitation of watershed planning. It was also suggested to advocate the R2R approach (WILUP) through IECs and dissemination activities, and identify measures to convince local executives to focus on the formation of CLUP, LCCAP, DRMMP and other prescribed plans.

The team met with the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) on March 25, 2022, to also introduce and discuss the WILUP project. Ms. Amelene Cadiz, from BSWM, inquired about the funding counterpart coming from the DA-BSWM which was answered that only the pilot-testing sites will have a counterpart in the project. CLUP formulation for the neighboring LGUs within the watershed boundary was also a primary concern by the team.

For the meeting with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) last March 24, 2022, in addition to the usual concerns of NGAs (collaboration of neighboring LGUs, harmonize planning processes, increase of pilot-testing sites) the agency had discussed some of their activities related to land use planning such as spearheading the Comprehensive Development Plan of municipalities, technical assistance for CDP (specifically on fifth to sixth income class) to identified municipalities and prioritized LGUs in light of SC Mandana’s ruling, crafted standardized training modules on CDP formulation to ensure the consistency and uniformity of training assistance, and establishing an interactive data management system in partnership with ADB, where LGU can interact and enhance their knowledge in risk-informed planning.

The WILUP Team held a meeting with the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) on March 22, 2022 and presented the project. The Director, Ms. Andrea Loriaga, observed that one of the problems encountered in most LGUs is that they do not have licensed environmental planners and so are having difficulty in the CLUP formation even if the technical training was already provided to them. It was also suggested to pilot test the WILUP to remote LGUs with limited resources (e.g., Class IV and VI Municipalities) where the identified municipalities in need of technical and financial assistance in the CLUP formulation will be assisted through a grant program. A primary concern is how the data (such as hazard maps) will be made readily available to LGUs to be used in the CLUP formulation and other prescribed plans.

On March 02, 2022, the team held a meeting with the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP). As was also mentioned during the previous meetings, the concerns of LCP also included the lack of practice of the R2R approach on the ground and ways on how the planning process will be done for neighboring LGUs. LCP had also asked how the project will benefit the cities as they are not part of the pilot-sites. As a response, all the training materials available to WILUP will be shared with the cities interested in the capacity development trainings and the webinars that will be conducted by the project will also be open for all LGUs. Ms. Soleil Manzano of LCP also asked if the team is willing to add additional pilot-testing sites from LCP in which the project is open for additional sites if there will be sponsors.

The meeting with National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) was held on March 2, 2022 to briefly introduce the project to the agency. During the meeting, some of the suggestions mentioned include accommodating neighboring LGUs within the same watershed to demonstrate harmonized and synchronized planning in LGUs as well as the integration of the WILUP process in the HLURB guidelines. This is one of the project outcomes as WILUP aims to harmonize the HLURB guidelines with the WILUP guidelines. The Team will also invite the NEDA Regional offices located in the pilot testing sites.

The team had also invited Environmental, Land Use and Urban Planning and Development Bureau (ELUPDB), the bureau in-charge of planning-related tasks such as the formulation of planning guidelines in DHSUD, last January 19, 2022 for a meeting to formally introduce the WILUP project. According to Atty. Dunstan San Vicente, DHSUD’s work on the guidelines is mostly unfinished. They continue to collaborate with other agencies for this purpose and would also gladly collaborate with WILUP for the project. DHSUD is also requesting to involve the Regional Offices and representatives from the ELUPDB Bureau to assist in the project activities, such as trainings, and to share WILUP’s outputs specifically on training packages that can be offered to NGAs and provinces. Unifying planning programs and guidelines for IWMP, PAMP, FLUP, and other plans was also a raised suggestion by both teams.