FLOOD CONTROL AND LAND USE PLANNING

FLOOD CONTROL AND LAND USE PLANNING How is the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) prepared? Is it a national plan that is a combination of municipal, provincial plans? If derived from a combination of local plans, then it would be a product of a "bottom to top" planning process. However, if it follows the "top to bottom" planning process, then the LGUs would be obligated to prepare their own local development plans by basing it on the MTPDP. But what if the local plans are based on neither of the two approaches? What if the local plans have nothing to do with the national plans and vice versa? As it is supposed to be, the Barangay Development Councils (BDCs) are supposed to prepare their own Barangay Development Plans (BDPs), and they are supposed to submit these plans to thier own Municipal Development Councils (MDCs) , for integration into the Municipal Development Plans (MDPs). As it goes up the staircase, the MDCs are supposed to submit their MDPs to the Provincial Development Councils (PDCs), for integration into the Provincial Development Plans (PDPs). Eventually, all the PDPs are supposed to be integrated by the Regional Development Councils (RDCs) into their own Regional Development Plans (RDPs). But are all of these BDPs, MDPs, PDPs and RDPs really prepared and implemented as they are supposed to be? The answer to that question will depend on whether or not the BDCs, MDCs, PDCs and RDCs are really meeting and functioning as they are supposed to be, but it seems that some of them are not really operating, and some of them might go to the extent of fabricating their minutes of meetings, to make it appear that they are meeting and are doing what they are supposed to do. Under the rules of the Executive Order (EO) mandating "Freedom of Information" (FOI), local citizens could request for copies of these minutes, and I would encourage them to do so. As it is supposed to be, all LGUs are supposed to prepare their own Comprehensive Land Use Plans (CLUPs). The problem is, many of the LGUs are not using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to prepare their CLUPs, and many are still using paper based land maps or manual topographic maps. If only these LGUs would use GIS software to prepare their CLUPs, then they could easily manipulate their GIS software to create their own hazard maps, which could of course include their own GIS based master plans for flood control. Not that I am trying to make it sound too easy, but it is really easy to prepare a master plan for flood control, if the LGUs would use GIS software to create their own CLUPs. Simply put, they should start their planning processes with data gathering. They could easily gather that data through tax mapping, which they could also implement by using the same GIS software that is already available to them. What is important however is to include flood control and land use planning in the agendas of the BDCs, MDCs, PDCs and RDCs, in the process also creating their hazard maps. IKE SENERES/08-06-2024