92 OG No. 14, 1988 (April 1, 1996) / (NAR) VOL. 7 NO. 1 / JANUARY-MARCH 1996
WHEREAS, Proclamation No. 350 was issued on
25 March 1994 declaring the Sta. Lucia Sub-Colony of the Iwahig Penal
Colony as an industrial-commercial site and vesting upon the Government
of Puerto Princesa City the full authority and responsibility to manage,
develop, and dispose of the same;
WHEREAS, the
segregated area of 1,072 hectares declared by Proclamation No. 350 is
unusually endowed with estuarine and coastal resources that might be
endangered by industrial-commercial
activities;
WHEREAS, the Palawan Council for
Sustainable Development and the Iwahig Penal Colony Inter Agency
Committee jointly endorses the establishment of an
environmental/eco-development estate in the said
area;
WHEREAS, the City of Puerto Princesa has
emerged as prime mover in ecological preservation and sustainable
economic development and is being developed as a world class, park-like
city, preserved and promoted as a pristine sanctuary for nature and as
gateway for eco-tourism in Asia;
WHEREAS, the City of
Puerto Princesa intends to develop the 1,072 hectares as a model of an
environmental estate, by which estate locators will be chosen for their
direct involvement in eco-tourism and for their demonstrated commercial
enterprises that achieve sustainable development in the utilization of
nature's bounty; and
WHEREAS, the environmental
estate will include educational facilities and programs by which young
Filipinos will become trained and inspired ambassadors of
environmentalism in other parts of the Philippines and in the
world.
NOW THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of
the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me
by law and the sovereign will of the Filipino people, do hereby order
the amendment of Proclamation No. 350 which declared the 1,072 hectares
of the Sta. Lucia Sub-colony as an industrial-commercial site by
declaring it, instead, as an Environmental
Estate.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the
Puerto Princesa City Government shall jointly submit an action plan to
ensure the smooth turn-over of the Sta. Lucia Sub-Colony including all
equipment and properties in the area not later than thirty (30) days
upon effectivity of this Proclamation.
The City
Government of Puerto Princesa shall undertake conversion of the area
into an environmental estate which shall serve as a model of
conservation and a center of tourism and instruction, while providing
sustainable livelihood opportunities.
The
cutting/gathering and utilization of all natural resources shall still
be subject to existing DENR rules and
regulations.
Any and all private rights, if there be
any, shall be respected.
This Proclamation shall take
effect immediately.
Adopted: 23 Jan.
1996
(SGD.)
FIDEL V. RAMOS
President