President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law an act, which requires state universities and colleges (SUCs) to prepare and implement a land use development infrastructure plan that includes the construction of dormitories for students and housing sites for employees.
Duterte signed the “SUCs Land Use Development and Infrastructure Plan (LUDIP) Act” or Republic Act No. 11396 on August 22, 2019 and a copy of the document was released to the media on Wednesday (August 28).
In signing the law, Duterte recognizes that “it is the policy of the state to provide for rational, holistic, efficient, and just allocation, utilization, development, and management of the country's land and water resources that is consistent with the principles of equity, social justice, environmental integrity and sustainable development for the common good”.
“All state universities and colleges (SUCs), through their governing boards, shall be required to prepare and implement a LUDIP designed to improve and optimally utilize their resources. 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,” the law read.
According to the law, SUCs will have to submit their LUDIP to the Commissioner on Higher Education (CHED) within two years.
The preparation and implementation of the LUDIP will be made a requirement for the approval of infrastructure projects implemented in any SUC unless the LUDIP has been implemented and submitted to the CHED, it added.
Among others, the LUDIP should include a detailed description of the research core, academic core, residential areas covering both housing for faculty and staff, dormitories for students, and detained geographical description and survey of the site intended for dormitories for students and housing sites for employees of the SUCs including the architectural design and estimated cost of construction.
The SUCs may seek assistance and cooperation from the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB), the University of the Philippines-School of Urban and Regional Planning (UP-SURP), the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Land Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (LMB-DENR) and other government offices or agencies in drawing up the LUDIP.
The CHED, UP-SURP, and HLURB are tasked to design capacity building programs for SUCs to enable them to develop and prepare suitable land use plans. (Azer Parrocha/PNA)
