Duterte signs law requiring SUCs to craft, implement land use development, infrastructure plans

President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law requiring all state universities and colleges (SUCs) to craft and implement a land management plan for the benefit of students and employees.

Under Republic Act 11396 signed by Duterte on August 22, the plan should include the construction of dormitories for students and and housing sites for the faculty and employees.

The law mandates all SUCs to submit a Land Use Development and Infrastructure Plan (LUDIP) to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) within two years after approval of the measure.

The plan will be updated periodically as the need arises and the CHED must be informed of the changes made.

A governing board will review the plan 10 years after its approval to ensure that it remains relevant and in consonance with current conditions and realities.

All land use or infrastructure projects of the SUCs will be required to follow the LUDIP, which will be linked with the land use plan and practice of the local government units (LGUs) to ensure that they complement with the activities and projects across geographical boundaries.

The law also provides that no infrastructure project will be approved and implemented in any SUC unless the LUDIP has been implemented and submitted to the CHED.

The components of the LUDIP are the following:

• campus planning framework, principles and processes, including master development plans
• detailed geographical description and survey of the site occupied by the SUCs, including idle lands and campuses, branches or extension sites titled under the name of the SUCs, other sites occupied by the SUCs and adjacent communities
• inventory of all existing buildings, facilities, and other infrastructure within the compound or areas occupied by the SUCs and other real estate assets
• cadastral survey of land occupied by the SUCs
• detailed description of the research core, academic core, residential areas covering both housing for faculty and staff, dormitories for students and detailed geographical description and survey of the site intended for dormitories for students and housing sites for employees of the SUCs, including the architectural design and estimated cost of construction
• detailed geographical description of land used for commercial, agriculture, fishery, forestry, and other activities, including open and recreational spaces, landscape features, and campus transportation system, among others.
• design and estimated cost of construction, operation, maintenance of other infrastructure needs of the SUCs
• financial plan which shall include the conduct and submission of feasibility studies, sources of funds, income, loans, public-private partnerships, and other financial schemes or arrangements

According to the law, SUCs may seek the assistance and cooperation from other agencies such as the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB), the University of the Philippines School of Urban and Regional Planning (UP-SURP) and the Department of Public Works and Highways for the crafting of the LUDIP.

The CHED, UP-SURP and the HLURB will design capacity building programs for the SUCs to enable them to develop and prepare suitable land use plans. — RSJ, GMA News