Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu has signed an order that will ensure the proper determination, assessment and collection of fees for the Special-Use Agreement in Protected Areas (Sapa) effective this year.
The new order is expected to increase revenues generated from fees collected from the special use of land within a protected area (PA) to as much as P500 billion annually, Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim of the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) said.
“Finally, this is what we’ve been waiting for for a long time,” Lim told the BusinessMirror. Lim said the new fees will take effect this year, 15 days upon publication of the new guideline. “This will increase income between P300 billion to P500 billion a year,” Lim added.
Currently, she said income generated in the operation of PAs only reach up to P30 million, the ceiling in terms of collection. “With the new guideline, we will be able to charge operators according to the zonal value of the land nearest to the protected area,” she said.
To recall, a 2013 study by Resources, Environment and Economics Center for Studies Inc. commissioned by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which covers 22 PAs, revealed that income from rental or lease of lands can increase the total annual revenues derived from operation from a measly P16 million to a whopping P306 billion.
The study indicates that current rental or lease of lands in PAs, including national parks, marine-protected areas, natural parks and sanctuary, are covered by Commonwealth Act (CA) 141, or the Public Lands Act, which charges a minimal fee of less than 3 percent of the value of the land to locators doing business within the PAs.
The study said charging merely an additional 1 percent of the minimum allowable fees for rent or lease of the land within PAs based on a higher zonal land value than that of an agricultural land under CA 141 will do the trick.
The study said with the proper application of the National Integrated Protected Areas System (Nipas) Act, the Integrated Protected Areas Fund (Ipaf), the automatic-retention law and their implementing rules and regulations, the value of lands within PAs are actually higher and can be based on the zonal value of the nearest city or urban center; putting premium to the fact that the lands are special because of their unique features, aesthetic value and that they are natural habitats of threatened and endangered species that need special care.
The BMB, a staff bureau of the DENR, has administrative jurisdiction over PAs under the Nipas Act.PAs are areas set aside for conservation because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values.
Some PAs in the Philippines are also key biodiversity areas. They may be situated on land and along coastal or marine areas.
Every PA is governed by a Protected Area Management Board and is managed by the Office of the Protected Area Superintendent designated by the DENR satellite office that has jurisdiction over the PA.
There are currently 240 PAs nationwide, with total size of about 5 million hectares, many of which allow the operation of commercial establishments that pay only a minimal amount for the use of land, as prescribed under the 82-year-old CA 141.
The BMB chief said with the increase in revenue from the Sapa fees and the law retaining 75 percent of the Ipaf, the managers of the PAs will be reinvigorated in coming up with development plans that will ensure the sustainable use of the resources within a PA.
“Finally, we thank Secretary Cimatu for signing the new guideline,” Lim said, adding that the proposal was first made by her office in 2012. A study was commissioned by the BMB to determine the potential revenue increase that can be obtained by the DENR if the Sapa is updated.
She said that the new guideline will encourage serious investors with the capacity to really help protect and conserve the biodiversity that thrives in a specific PA.
Some PAs, she noted, have resorts and commercial establishments like restaurants or eatery, souvenir shops or other businesses, but the owners or locators, she said, are not really contributing to the biodiversity protection and conservation effort of the government.
“Finally, we can weed out businesses that are profiting from PAs but are not serious in taking care of our PAs,” she said.
The new guideline, DENR Administrative Order 2018-05 dated March 15, 2018, titled “Addendum to DENR Administrative Order 2017-17 on the Rules and Regulations Governing Special Uses within Protected Areas,” provides the guidelines and principles in determining development fees for access to, and sustainable use, of resources in PAs.
Under the new guideline, the DENR shall impose development fees based on the fixed percentage of the zonal value of the land and the improvement in the area.
The fees shall be equivalent to 5 percent of the most recent zonal value of the commercial zone in the nearest barangay or municipality where the project area is located, multiplied by the size of the area for development and 1 percent of the value of improvement as premium to the PA.
The most recent zonal values prescribed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue for the commercial zone within the nearest barangay or municipality will be used as basis for the computation of Sapa development fees.
Under the same guideline, the fees are subject to evaluation every five years. The annual Sapa fee shall be paid upon issuance of the Sapa and annually thereafter within 30 days from the date of issuance.
The delinquent locators may be charged with surcharges for late payment equivalent to 8.33 percent monthly, or 100 percent for one year of delay.
Also, the new guideline imposes an administrative fee of P5,000 for every Sapa application filed to cover the cost of examining, assessing and processing of the requirements submitted by development or project proponents relative to the application for a special-use agreement in a specific PA.