The EnP Board

Review Series: Part 5

– Your
planning bibles
 Ragene Palma January 30, 2016 11 Comments

This is the fifth part of my EnP board review

series, where we start off with the basic
reading materials you’re supposed to know as
a planner.
And there are three of them:

1. Rationalized Planning System in the Philippines by Ernesto

Serote
2. Republic Act 7160: The Local Government Code
3. HLURB CLUP Guidebooks and Supplemental
Guidelines (since this is a series of books, it’s technically 3++
bibles)
Rationalized Planning System in the Philippines

Let’s start with the RPS, because this is the ultimate book for the
exam. Believe me, studying it doesn’t stop at the board exam. I
actually carry this book to wherever I travel for planning workshops, it
stays with me in every hotel.
As Serote puts it, planning is scattered, and for me, dysfunctional, in
our country. Rationalizing the planning system brings together the
principles, your baselines, the planning process, who’s in it, what its
output is, and basically, how everything works out in Philippine
planning.

What we get from the book

It lays the foundation of planning through the structure and the

inevitability of local government function, and second, it provides in
detail the combined process of the two mandated planning
documents: the Comprehensive Land Use Plan and the
Comprehensive Development Plan. If you’re a SURP student or
graduate, you’ve gone through this in Plan 203, Plan 210, and Plan
210.1. Or if you work for a local government, you may be familiar with
some of the parts. But don’t be complacent. You may have produced
plans, but there’s much more to just going through the process once
or twice, or just contributing a portion of the plan.

I’m not making a book review, and I won’t write the questions or
answers outright. But I can give a guide you can refer to while
reading the RPS.

Tips

o Remember that the CLUP has the four policy areas and
equates to land use categories, while the CDP follows the five
development sectors. There’s a difference.
o Take note of the tools and techniques, especially in
making socio-economic analyses (yes, Rachel Racelis’ Plan 214),
these comprised the math component when I took the exam.
o Master the urban form stereotypes in the book (yes, Plan 201).
Not just the name and drawing; understand what the forms’
growth characterises in a city setting.

5 stereotypes from the many urban forms: Dispersed sheet, galaxy, core, star, and
radial/nucleated. Sources: Rationalised Planning System; Kevin Lynch
o Read all the success and development indicators. Don’t just
breeze through the table, even if it lasts some pages.
o Take note of who made which technique throughout the book,
especially in evaluating urban forms. Also take note of the
differences per technique. You’ll get to know Kevin Lynch,
Nathaniel Lichfield, Morris Hill, and so on. (On the work of the
latter two, look up GAM and CBA.) Look them up. Even if they’re
in the footnotes, read what they wrote. As I said, RPS is your
planning bible. The gods’ contributions are already summarised
here.
o The five development sectors depicted as a flower is important.
o There are references made throughout the book. While most
are from the Local Government Code (i.e. General welfare goals,
the political-technical differentiation), some come from the 1986
Constitution, while others stem from laws and national plans like
the Philippine Development Plan. After your first go on the RPS,
read the references, then go through RPS again. You’ll have more
understanding on the what’s, why’s, who’s and how’s. Remember,
the more umbrella-ish in scope and nature, the deeper the
context. RPS stems mainly from the LGC, while the LGC stems
from the Constitution. Oh, and these references also pop up in the
exam.
o Remember that while the chapters of the book are read flat, its
entirety is a cycle. And it is intercrossed with larger area plans and
frameworks.
o Don’t ever take the monitoring and evaluation chapter for
granted.
o The mandated planning documents are the CLUP and the
CDP. Take note of the interplay with the EP, AIP, the LDIP, and
ELA. These are all in the many frameworks in different chapters of
the book.
Refer to this book again, and again, and again, and again. You learn
from it every time you read it. Make a test to see if you really
understand the contents. For example, make a blank chart of the four
book modules and try to fill in the planning stages and outputs.

Aside from the online DILG version, RPS has an available regular
circulation copy in the SURP Library.

The Local Government Code (RA 7160)

The annotated copy I have at home is almost 2 inches thick. But

reading it a couple of times furthered what I read from the RPS.

So, why go through the LGC? Aside from being the legal basis for
local planning, the planning functions and the justifications for the
political and technical aspects of planning are embedded in this law.

What we get from the law

Basically, we go through everything a local government is about. The
whole LGC was written to devolve the national governmental
functions to the local, and the provisions govern local. It covers
provincial, city-, municipal, and barangay levels.

If you haven’t worked under a local government before (like me, I’ve
only experienced national), reading the LGC will provide you the
structure and functions of the local government. Down to what every
officer in it does, what they’re responsible for, how funds and taxes
are shared and utilised, and the rationale for how the local
government is designed to tick like a well-oiled clock.

Bookmarks

I encourage you to study the whole law, but I’m going to lift the
sections which are always discussed in environmental planning.
Place a stick-on on the following:

o Sections 15 to 20, because they spell out the basis of local

planning activities. Section 15 is the political and corporate nature
of local government units, Section 16 is the general welfare
clause, Section 17 lists all the basic services and facilities that
should be provided (yes, read through all of them, and it’s good to
make a matrix), Section 18 is the power to generate and apply
resources (implementing development plans, levying taxes,
creating revenue sources all go here), Section 19 is eminent
domain (the right to take property for public use), and Section 20
is the reclassification of agricultural lands (15% for HUCs, 10% for
component cities and first to third class municipalities, and 5% for
fourth to sixth class municipalities).
o Sections 106-116 tackle the Local Development Council’s
composition and functions, among other related information.
o Section 130 letter r discusses municipal waters, specifying the
15 kilometer boundary from the coastline (if water is shared by 2
municipalities, the boundary line is equally distant from the
shores).
o Section 285 discusses the allocation of IRA (internal revenue
allotment) to local government units: Provinces and cities get 23%
each, municipalities get 34%, while barangays get 20%. This is
dependent on a formula: 50% for population, 25% for land area,
and 25% equal sharing (meaning the balance of the IRA is divided
equally among all recipients).
o Section 384: The Barangay, Section 440: The
Municipality, Section 448: The City, Section 459: The Province.
And here’s the summary for the unit creation:

Just to “clarify” the issue of HUC city income differences: Section 450
of RA 7160 states that the average annual income of a city should be
at least 20M. Section 452 states that HUCs must have at least 50M.
BUT RA 9009 amends the LGC and specifies the amendment
on only Section 450, changing the income of a city requirement to be
100M. The question we had during our review was if the HUC would
follow suit and be required to have an income of 100M as well. The
logic here is that the HUC has the higher requirements than the
component and independent component cities. So my final answer
for HUCs’ required income will be 100M. (Consult a lawyer, anyone?)

Other things you will find handy: The history of Philippine local
governments. The annotated versions of the LGC have these in the
introduction (I’m copying these from Rufus Rodriguez’ fifth edition).
Let me put them here, as I almost took these for granted during my
review:

o Barangay was a settlement of 30 to 100 families and a

governmental unit
o Datu was the chief of the barangay and an absolute ruler,
having all three powers of the government: legislative, executive,
and judicial
o Encomienda is the granted land that dissolved the barangays,
superimposed by the Spanish government. Encomiendero collects
the natives’ tributes.
o Pueblos are municipalities, headed by the gobernadorcillo
o Cabildos are cities, led by the 2 alcaldes
o Provincias are provinces, led by the Alcalde Mayor
o Barangays became barios while dates became cabezas de
barangay
o Jumping to the first Philippine republic (Aguinaldo x Mabini),
the Malolos Constitution stated “the organization and powers of
the provincial and municipal assemblies shall be governed by their
respective areas,” moving away from the Spanish-dictated local
government forms
o During the Americans: Councils were instituted, and oversight
by the central government to the local units was introduced
o Prior to the LGC, there were the Revised Administrative Code,
the Decentralisation Act, the Revised Barrio Chapter, until the
LGC took into effect in 1991
Tip

o Study the offices within the LGU, especially Planning and

Development. Take note of the officers, budget guidelines,
functions, and main outputs per office. With their embedded
planning functions, try to link them all together. Draw a blank
hierarchy to practice.
—

Aside from the online version, copies of RA7160 (also annotated

ones) are available at National Book Store and Rex Book Store. Or
you can borrow from lawyer / law student friends.

HLURB Guidebooks

There are 3 updated CLUP guidebooks, and there’s the new

supplemental guidelines on DRR/CCA. What’s the difference with the
old guidebooks? In the updated ones, we incorporate the ridge-to-
reef approach in planning, as well as the new mandated elements of
the CLUP.
While some board takers are worried about whether they should
study the updated versions or the old ones, I recommend the
updated ones. For the reasons that 1) you become up-to-date, and 2)
it’s up to you to undertake a guidebook or law history trace, but I’ll
help you with that in the post that covers the reading list. The
updated versions have improved technical writing and illustrations
which will aid in your study.

Difference with the RPS

So if this is about the CLUP all over again, what’s the difference with
the RPS?

As the titles suggest, the RPS rationalizes the planning system,

therefore it goes beyond the CLUP, which is the sole focus of the
HLURB guidebooks. Also, while RPS has the same essence of going
through the CLUP,  the HLURB guidebooks provide a very layman
friendly, step-by-step, Gantt-chart inclusive plan, ready to be used by
LGUs. It also provides a wide range of techniques, adding to Serote’s
list, and illustrates all the technical analyses which are justified by the
RPS.

What we get from the guidebooks

Volume 1: The Planning Process

The HLURB has a 12-step planning process, and this process is the
entirety of Volume 1.

The CLUP Process. Source: HLURB CLUP Guidebook Volume 1

This volume discusses the rationale of the CLUP from the different
laws, and its linkage to other development plans.
Hierarchy and linkage of plans. Source: HLURB
Since this volume was written to be the reference for actual
workshops, you may find this more useful when you’re doing actual
facilitation. However, while it echoes the RPS, it also provides the
more detailed and systematic system of doing land use planning.
Every chapter provides an introduction, objectives, key inputs,
expected outputs from the working groups, key participants, and the
substeps per all of the 12 steps in the CLUP process.

Tip
Focus on the substeps provided. It’s not necessary to memorise
anything, not even the order, because logic will guide you throughout
the process. What’s important is that you know the essence of the
steps in the cycle. For example, in preparing the land use plan (Step
7), you should know that the land demand and supply, overlay, and
identification of land uses are to be undertaken. In this regard, Step 7
would also essentially require you to know what the land use
categories are (Forestlands, Agricultural Lands, Water, etc), and it
will also require you to conduct your analysis (i.e. land use conflicts
and compatibilities).

Volume 2: Sectoral Analyses and Tools for Situational

Analyses

Volume 2 is a compilation of all your Plan 214 techniques and Plan

299 research methodologies. It spans from pre-planning, analysis, to
IEC. What we get:

o Sectoral studies (according to development sector, so social,

economic, etc…). These are the tools for gathering baseline data.
In practice, this is what we put in the EP. Mainly, these cover data
sourcing, surveys, filling in data tables, workshop games and
activities, etc.
o Ecosystem types and how to approach them for analysis.
Horizontal Transect of Ecosystems. Source: HLURB
Issue Mapping. Source: HLURB.
o Volume 2 also provides special area studies, namely, green
growth, urban design, heritage conservation, and ancestral
domains. I’ll tackle the latter two more in the post on
environmental laws.
Tips

o If you’re a fellow SURP student, this is a review of Plan 203,

Plan 214, and Plan 299. The sectoral analyses, as I said, is what
you do in the EP. Therefore, an analysis of the social sector will
contain the demographics and projections (population pyramids,
cohorts) and social services (health, education, protection, etc).
Economic analysis will have the location quotient, the base
economies, and so on.
o Take note of how the most basic analyses are done. Practice
the math and stat.
 

Volume 3: Zoning Ordinance

Volume 3 basically translates your Volume 1 output, because the

Zoning Ordinance is the implementation tool of the CLUP.

What’s very useful about this guide is that it pulls together all the
laws, technical regulations, standards, and definitions you need to
know before making the ZO. Per classification, the allowable uses
and building regulations are outlined. For example, regulations in a
Residential-5 (R5) Zone allows all uses from the R1-4 zones (such as
single-detached dwelling units, residential subdivisions, etc.) and the
building regulations are governed by the National Building
Code and Presidential Decree 957.

Discussions on variances, exceptions, easements, buffers, green

spaces, and other mitigating measures are in this volume.

Tip: Have your copies of the environmental laws beside you when
you read this volume for quick reference.

Supplemental Guidelines on Mainstreaming DRR/CCA in

the CLUP

RA 10121 (Philippine Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Act

of 2010) and RA 9729 (Climate Change Act of 2009) require the
mainstreaming of disaster risk reduction and climate change into
frameworks, policies, and processes. The supplemental guidelines
were created for this purpose.

This volume is highly technical, but with the steps given, is also easy
to follow. It also provides sample tables and outputs–maps, exposure
tables, adaptive capacity scores, and the like–so you get to have a
basis in practicing the methods.

The supplemental guidelines look at two main things: Climate and

disaster risk, and the formulation of a risk-sensitive land use plan.
The reduction of risk (exposure to loss or danger) is how the
guidelines enhance the land use plan strategies.

Tips

o Be familiar with the technical definitions.

o Study the key information of the steps, as well as the
assessment implications.
—

What’s very handy about the HLURB guidebooks is that each chapter
is formatted, so you can easily locate the text you want to review.
The basic tasks and activities per step are all outlined, and a Gantt
chart format can be used to keep the planning activities on track.

During my time, the new guidebooks had only been released. Some
were concerned on whether they would have to read the books
because the contents might not be included in the exam. But then
again, what’s the point of being called a professional planner without
knowing the official guidelines to the most basic planning output?
And as they say, knowledge is power.

As far as I know, the HLURB guidelines are only available online. If

you’re planning to print (since you will also be using this
thoroughly during practice), have about a ream of paper ready
because the guidebooks are thick, except for Volume 3.