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(NAR) VOL. 12 NO. 1 / JANUARY - MARCH 2001

[ HLURB ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 11, S. 2000, December 04, 2000 ]

RESOLUTION NO. R-675, AMENDING THE SCHEDULE OF FINES IMPOSED BY THE HOUSING AND LAND USE REGULATORY BOARD IN THE PERFORMANCE OF ITS FUNCTIONS



Attached herewith is the text of the subject resolution which was approved by the Board of Commissioners on 17 August 2000.

The above Resolution was published in the 08 and 15 September 2000 issues of Malaya, and, in accordance with the provisions of law, shall take effect immediately after such publication.

Please be guided accordingly.

Adopted: 04 Dec. 2000

(SGD.) ROMULO Q.M. FABUL
Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer

Resolution No. 675, s. 2000

Amending the Schedule of Fines Imposed by the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board in the Performance of its Functions


BE IT RESOLVED, as it is hereby resolved that the following Revised Schedule of Fines imposed by the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board in the exercise of its functions pursuant to Art. IV, Sec. 5.0; 5.q.2 and Art. V, Section 11 of Executive Order No. 648 and Sec. 38 of PD 957 be ADOPTED as the same is hereby adopted.

REVISED SCHEDULE OF FINES

I.          VIOLATION

A.        For violations of TPZ and ULRZ/APD laws, rules and regulations

1. Failure to secure locational clearance prior to the start of the project.

CONFORMITY WITH LAND USE[1]

Project Type
Conforming
Non-Conforming
Minimum
Medium
Maximum
Minimum
Medium
Maximum
Industrial
1000-2500
2501-4000
4001-5500
2501-4000*
4001-7000
7001-10000
Agro-Industrial
750-2000
2001-3500
3501-5000
2001-4000
4001-7000
7001-10000
Agricultural
700-1500
1501-3000
3001-4500
1501-3000
3001-6000
6001-9000
Commercial
-do-
-do-
-do-
-do-
-do-
-do-
Institutional
600-1200
1201-2400
2401-3500
1201-2400
2401-5000
5001-7000
Residential[2]
500-1000
1001-1500
1501-2000
1001-2000
2001-3000
3001-4000
Special Project
1000-3500
3501-6500
6501-10000

Minimum
Medium
Maximum
2. Violations of the Terms and Conditions in clearance and all other
violations on the requirements for locational clearance

500-2000
2001-3500
3501-5000
B. For violations of ULRZ/APD, laws, rules and conditions
   
1. Selling without sales clearance
200-500
501-700
701-1000

2. Mortgaging without mortgage clearance
100-250
251-350
351-500

3. Failure to register existing rights
-do-
-do-
-do-

C. For violations of REM laws, rules and regulations

1. Failure to secure development permit
1000-3000
3001-6000
6001-10000

2. Failure to register project
-do-
-do-
-do-

3. Alteration of approved development permit
-do-
-do-
-do-

4. Non-compliance with approved development plan
-do-
-do-
-do-

5. Incomplete development
-do-
-do-
-do-

6. Non-development
-do-
-do-
-do-

7. Selling without license
-do-
-do-
-do-

8. Violation of terms/conditions of development permit/license to sell
-do-
-do-
-do-

9. Non-delivery of title
-do-
-do-
-do-

10. Failure to secure mortgage clearance
1000-2500
2501-4000
4001-5500

11. Failure to secure advertisement approval
500-1000
1001-1500
1501-2000

12. Imposition of realty taxes on vendee contrary to P.D. 957

500-1000
701-800
801-1000
13. Failure of developer, Broker or Salesmen to register or renew

200-500
501-700
701-1000
14. Violation of other provisions of P.D. 957
1000-3000
3001-6000
6001-10000

D.        Pursuant to Art. IV, Sec. 5.0 of EO 648, Series of 1981 to wit: Impose Administrative Fine not exceeding twenty thousand pesos (P20,000.00) for any violation of its charter and its rules and regulations.

E.        Pursuant to Art. IV, Sec. 5.Q.2 of EO 648, Series of 1981, cite and declare any person, entity or enterprise in contempt of the Board in the following cases:
  1. Whenever any person, entity or enterprise commits any disorderly or disrespectful conduct before the board or in the presence of its members or authorized representatives actually engaged in the exercise of their official functions, or during the conduct of any hearing or official inquiry by the said board, at the place or near the premises where such hearing or proceeding is being conducted which obstruct, distract, interfere or in any other way disturb, the performance of such functions or the conduct of such hearing or proceeding;

  2. Whenever any person, enterprise or entity fails or refuses to comply with or obey without justifiable reason, any lawful order, decision, writ or process of the board. In connection therewith, it may in cases falling within the first paragraph hereof, summarily impose a fine of an amount not exceeding P2,000.00 and order the confinement of the violator for a period that shall not exceed the duration of the hearing or proceeding or the performance if such functions, and in cases falling with the second paragraph hereof, it may, in addition to the administrative fine abovementioned impose a fine of P500.00 for each day that the violation or failure or refusal to comply continues, and order the confinement of the offender until the order or decision shall have been complied with;
In case the offender is a partnership, corporation or association or enterprise, the above fine shall be imposed on the assets of such entity and the President, managing partner or chief executive officer shall be ordered confined.

F. Pursuant to Sec. 38 of PD 957 the HLURB may prescribe and impose fines not exceeding ten thousand pesos for violations of the provisions of this decree or of any rule or regulation thereunder.  Fines shall be payable to the board and enforceable through writs or execution in accordance with the provisions of the rules of court.

II. Guidelines for Imposition of Administrative Fines

A. Grounds for Imposition of Administrative Fines

Where the existence of the following acts and omissions are duly established, the fine fixed on the schedule of administrative fines corresponding to such act or omission shall be imposed:
  1. Failure without just cause to secure any of the clearances, permits, licenses or approval that are required by law or regulations to be secured from the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB);

  2. Failure to comply with any of the condition/s setforth in the clearances, permits, licenses or approval issued by the Board;

  3. Failure to complete development, non-provisions of the required facilities, non-compliance with approved development plan or altering without approval in case of subdivisions, condominiums or townhouses;

  4. Selling of lots in a subdivision, farmlots and memorial parks, condominium units and townhouses without license to sell or advertising without approval and selling, mortgaging, leasing or otherwise encumbering lands/properties within Urban Land Reform Zones or Areas for Priority Development without approval/clearances from the Board;

  5. Misrepresentation of facts and circumstances relative to the project at the time of application or monitoring; and

  6. Failure to obey or comply with the order issued by the Board after monitoring the existence of any violation.
B.        Circumstances to be Considered in the Imposition of Fines/Penalties

In determining whether a fine/penalty shall be imposed as well as the nature/extent/amount thereof, the following attending factors/circumstances shall be taken into consideration:
  1. The extent of impact, or gravity of the violation committed;

  2. The presence of attending circumstances and/or good or bad faith on the part of the violator;

  3. The presence or possibility of damage, prejudice or inconvenience to residents, neighbors and/or the community in general; or the physical, social or economic impact of the project or activity to the surrounding land/use neighborhood;

  4. The implication of the continued existence of the violation on the attainment of the objectives/purposes enunciated in the law and regulations;

  5. The presence, nature and frequency of history of violations.
C.        General Rules in Imposition of Fines/Penalties

In the imposition of Fines/Penalties, the following Rules shall apply:
  1. In the absence of any mitigating or aggravating circumstances the Medium Range of Penalties shall apply;

  2. Each circumstance shall be generally considered as of equal weight, i.e., one mitigating circumstance shall be equivalent to, and shall offset or cancel an aggravating circumstance, except in the following cases:

    1. Special Aggravating circumstance of repeated violation shall be offset only by two (2) mitigating circumstances.

    2. Lack of foreknowledge, ignorance of the law, where any one of the circumstances mentioned in II D.6 are absent, which shall be considered as a privileged mitigating circumstance that can be offset only by two (2) aggravating circumstances.

  3. Within each range (minimum, medium, maximum) there shall be equal sub-ranges based on project classification by land use intensity (e.g. R1, R2, C1, C2, I1, I2, etc.) with those lowest in intensity being imposed the minimum amount for each range and those highest in intensity, the maximum amount in the range;

  4. Within each sub-range shall be “High” and “Low” periods with the applicability of the periods in question being dependent on the presence or absence of local zoning regulations at the time the offense is committed;

  5. To determine the extent of a period of a sub-range, the sum of the minimum and maximum amounts of each periods or sub-range shall be divided by the number of periods/sub-range to be created and the resulting quotient shall be considered as the extent of such period or sub-range, which shall then be reckoned from the minimum amount of the range or the maximum amount of the preceding sub-range, as the case may be.
D.        Circumstances Justifying Exemption From Fine

The following circumstances shall be sufficient to exempt the violator from liability for fines:
  1. Where the proponent has secured zoning/locational clearance and/or other permits from a local zoning administrator or building official and/or other local officials with apparent authority to issue the same, provided that:

    1. Said permit is secured prior to establishment of the project;

    2. Proponent subsequently voluntarily applies for proper clearance from the Board;

    3. In case there are existing complaints, proper remedial measures shall be instituted.

  2. Where project is undertaken by other government agencies and/or corporations;

  3. Where the project is established in municipalities without town plans/zoning ordinances provided other permits justifying its existence have been secured;

  4. Where the property is located within an APD/ULRZ but is not occupied by qualified tenants, and is sold/mortgaged or encumbered under any of the following circumstances:

    1. When the sale/mortgage is between members of the same family or relatives (up to third degree);

    2. When the same arose out of partition among co-heirs and co-owners;

    3. When the area of the property is less than one hundred (100) square meters;

    4. When the sale/mortgage or other encumbrance was due to an immediate medical emergency which required medical expenses or to a need to defray funeral expenses of the immediate members of the families and extra-ordinary expenses in case of fire, flood and other natural calamities.

  5. Where non-completion of the development of a portion of the subdivision is beyond the control of the developer such as deterioration of peace and order, occurrence of force majeure, or the area has been established to be illegally occupied; shortage of materials, extraordinary devaluation of the currency;

  6. Lack of foreknowledge in the establishment of any land use/development project, and/or ignorance of the laws and regulations on locational clearance/subdivision regulations provided that both of the following circumstances are also present:

    1. Either project location is in a remote area, or responsible officials failed to disseminate information concerning pertinent requirements, or require the same.

    2. Existence of analogous facts/information that may warrant exemption from fine.
E. Mitigating Circumstances Justifying the Imposition of Minimum Range of Fines

The following mitigating circumstances shall warrant the Imposition of the Minimum Level of Fine:
  1. When the violation has very minimal adverse impact on the adjoining areas or projects or on the rights of affected parties, if any;

  2. When the failure to do a required act was due to unforeseen or unavoidable circumstances not totally beyond the control of and brought by the violator;

  3. When the violation although not conforming does not pose any present danger to public health, safety, convenience and peace and order;

  4. When the violation can be easily rectified, i.e., the law/regulation/condition can still be complied with;

  5. Where there was negligence on the part of the violator in failing to immediately comply with the requirements of the law but no adverse consequences have been noted;

  6. Other additional facts/informations that may mitigate the imposition of minimum range of fine.
F. Aggravating Circumstances Shall Serve to Increase the Liability of the Violator and Authorize the Imposition of Maximum Penalties or Fines
  1. Where the status/standing/experience and other qualifications of the violator is such that he may be presumed to be already aware of the pertinent requirements of the law and regulations;

  2. When the violator has a history of similar offenses or violation over several occasions;

  3. Where no remedial/corrective measures are made despite due notices, or even if measures are undertaken the same are still not adequate;

  4. Where owner/developer fails to complete the development of the project without just cause or despite the grant of extension;

  5. Where the violation has been established to be deliberately committed or completely without any reasonable cause;

  6. When the project/transaction is subject to actual complaints found or established to be valid after proper investigation.
G. Grounds for Reconsideration of Penalties/Fines 

A motion for reconsideration of an Order Imposing Penalties/Fines may be filed on any of the following grounds:
  1. The penalty or fine imposed is not in accordance with nor authorized by law or existing regulations;

  2. The fine imposed is excessive, unreasonable, oppressive or arbitrary;

  3. The findings of facts do not conform to the truth or do not provide sufficient basis for imposition of fine.
H. Transitory Clemency Provisions

All proponents/owners/developers of projects existing at the time of the promulgation of this Board Resolution who secure the necessary clearance/permits/licenses/approval within six (6) months from effectivity of this Board Resolution, or rectify violations of applicable standards and regulations, shall be relieved of any pecuniary liability before this Board.  Thereafter, if they secure the same within the next following six (6) months, the penalty imposable shall be within the next two (2) ranges lower than that prescribed in this Board Resolution.

Proponents/owners/developers of projects established within the next six (6) months following the adoption of these Board Resolution shall likewise be entitled to exemption from and/or reduction of penalty if they secure the required within six (6) months or one (1) year respectively from the time of their establishment or commission of violation.

I. Effectivity

These Rules and Regulations shall take effect after its publication for two (2) consecutive weeks in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Adopted: 17 August 2000

Approved:

(SGD.) LEONORA VASQUEZ-DE JESUS
Chairperson, HUDCC
Ex-Officio Chairperson, HLURB

(SGD.) ANTONIO GABRIEL M. LLORENTE
Undersecretary, DOJ Ex-Officio Commissioner

(SGD.) ROMULO Q.M. FABUL
Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer
(SGD.) FORTUNATO R. ABRENILLA
Director, Legal Staff, NEDA Ex-Officio Commissioner
(SGD.) TERESITA A. DESIERTO
Commissioner
   
(SGD.) FRANCISCO L. DAGNALAN
Commissioner
(SGD.) ROQUE ARRIETA MAGNO
Commissioner
   
Attested:
     

(SGD.) CHARITO M. BUNAGAN
Board Secretary



[1] As per approved Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) or HLURB Comprehensive Land Use Plan and Ordinance.

* Subject to Revision when the need arises.

[2] Excludes single-detached family dwelling units.
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