RESTORING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES THE JURISDICTION, CONTROL, MANAGEMENT, AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE ANGAT WATERSHED RESERVATION

WHEREAS, under Executive Order
No. 192, dated June 10, 1987, the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources is mandated as the sole agency responsible for the conservation,
management, development, and proper use of the country’s natural resources
within forest lands, including watershed reservations;

WHEREAS, under Executive Order
No. 224, dated July 16, 1987, the National Power Corporation was vested the
complete jurisdiction, control and regulation of certain watershed areas and
reservations surrounding its power generating plants, among which is the Angat
Watershed Reservation under Proclamations Nos. 505 and 599;

WHEREAS, watershed areas are
critical and essential not only to the life-span of hydroelectric dams and
other water-oriented projects of the government but also to its flood control
and other environmental and ecological programs;

WHEREAS, the Angat Watershed
Reservation is a very important and vital watershed, considering that it
irrigates about twenty (20) municipalities in the Provinces of Bulacan and
Pampanga, not to mention its power generating capacity in Luzon and as the
source of seventy-five (75%) per cent of the water supply of the entire Metro
Manila;

WHEREAS, the Angat Watershed
Reservation needs effective protection, management, and development in order to
sustain its capacity for power generations, water supply, and irrigation and
further enhance its watershed functions;

WHEREAS, considering its
mandate, objectives, and resources, the DENR is in the best position to
implement the policies, plans and programs on the protection, management,
rehabilitation, and development, of watersheds, such as the Angat Watershed
Reservation;

WHEREAS, there is an urgent need
to provide a holistic approach for the sustainable management and development
of the whole Angat Watershed Reservation.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V.
RAMOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by
the Constitution, do hereby order the following:

SECTION 1. The Department of
Environment and Natural Resources shall have jurisdiction, control, management,
and development of the Angat Watershed Reservation. For this purpose, the
Department shall submit to the Office of the President a comprehensive
management and development plan within ninety (90) days from the date hereof.

SEC. 2. All development and/or
improvement activities of existing water-based facilities within the Angat
Watershed Reservation of the National Power Corporation, which have been
programmed for immediate implementation, shall be in close consultation and collaboration
with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

SEC. 3. The commercial
utilization of timber within the Reservation shall not be allowed, except for
research and other silvicultural practices, subject to the approval of the
Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources.

SEC. 4. The Department of
Environment and Natural Resources and the National Power Corporation shall
undertake the necessary arrangements for the immediate and orderly turnover of
responsibilities over the reservation.

SEC. 5. For purposes of this
Order, an initial allocation of One Million Pesos (P1,000,000.00) is hereby set
aside out of the unallocated funds of the National Government, in addition to
whatever appropriation the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and
the National Power Corporation may contribute to this undertaking.

SEC. 6. The provisions of
existing orders, policies, rules and regulations, which are inconsistent
herewith, are hereby repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.

SEC. 7. This Order shall take
effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 25th day of February, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and
ninety four.

(Sgd.) FIDEL
V. RAMOS
President of the Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.) TEOFISTO T. GUINGONA, JR.
Executive Secretary

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