CLUP/Zoning Ordinance

     The Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) serves as the reference book, the guidebook, the Bible, so to speak of all economic and other human undertakings in the city for the next 10 years.

The 1998-2010 Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) of Iloilo City along with its accompanying Zoning Ordinance (ZO) is long overdue for revision, as such, this was endorsed by the incumbent City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog to the SP Committee on Urban Planning and Zoning, which I am the Chairman for study, report and recommendation.

One of which is the conduct of a public hearing.

Prior to public hearing, my office conducted several informal meeting of minds with the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) Panay chapter which extracted clashing of opinions and ideas gearing towards a technically dynamic growth for Iloilo City.

I also initiated a dialogue among the city councilors soliciting their suggestions and inputs as well as their favorable support for legislative measures  for the endorsement of CLUP and its Zoning Ordinance.

An invitation was sent  to Ma’am Bermejo  (position) of the Housing Land Use and Regulatory Board together with the City Planning and Development Coordinator , Mr. Jose Roni Penalosa to shed light on various concerns which I feel need to discussed  prior to initiating the public hearing.

The conduct of a public hearing do not only fulfill the purpose of a legislative requirement but important undertaking like this should be base on the core belief that our people should remain essentially free and that development strategies should provide them the opportunity to participate and the capacity to choose especially decisions affecting growth and development in our communities.

The internationally recognized Palafox Associates undertook the preparation of this land use plan with the team from the City Planning and Development Office who painstakingly conducted 2 public consultations and workshops to stakeholders way back in February and June in 2009, to primarily identify and establish the inherent potentials and opportunities in our city and thus devise an appropriate framework for development options and spatial strategies.

Eventually, various inputs were submitted, gathered, discussed, scrutinized, and integrated by the CPDO to coincide with the needs and demands affecting our people and the city’s economic growth.

As to this writing, the city’s CLUP/Zoning Ordinance is now being reviewed by the Regional Land Use Committee (RLUC and the Housing Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB), after which this will be referred back to the City Council for necessary amendments ….and eventually for its final approval.