I.

1987 PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE II. SECTION 16. The State shall protect and advance the right of the
people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and
harmony of nature.

ARTICLE XIV. SECTION 2. All lands of the public domain, waters, minerals,
coal, petroleum, and other mineral oils, all forces of potential energy, fisheries,
forests or timber, wildlife, flora and fauna, and other natural resources are
owned by the State.

ARTICLE XIV. SECTION 4. The Congress shall, as soon as possible, determine

by law the specific limits of forest lands and national parks, marking clearly
their boundaries on the ground. Thereafter, such forest lands and national
parks shall be conserved and may not be increased nor diminished, except by
law. The Congress shall provide, for such period as it may determine, measures
to prohibit logging in endangered forests and watershed areas.

II. LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE OF 1991 (R.A. NO. 7160)

CHAPTER I. The Code: Policy and Application

SECTION 17. Basic Services and Facilities.

(a) Local government units shall endeavor to be self-reliant and shall

continue exercising the powers and discharging the duties and functions
currently vested upon them. They shall also discharge the functions and
responsibilities of national agencies and offices devolved to them pursuant to
this Code. Local government units shall likewise exercise such other powers
and discharge such other functions and responsibilities as are necessary,
appropriate, or incidental to efficient and effective provisions of the basic
services and facilities enumerated herein.

(3) For a Province:

(iii) Pursuant to national policies and subject to supervision,

control and review of the DENR, enforcement of forestry laws
limited to community-based forestry projects, pollution control law,
small-scale mining law, and other laws on the protection of the
environment; and mini-hydroelectric projects for local purposes.

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 CHAPTER III. Officials and Offices Common to All Provinces

ARTICLE I. The Provincial Governor

SECTION 465. The Chief Executive: Powers, Duties, Functions, and
Compensation.

(b) For efficient, effective and economical governance the purpose of

which is the general welfare of the province and its inhabitants pursuant to
Section 16 of this Code, the provincial governor shall:

(3)(v). Adopt adequate measures to safeguard and conserve land,

mineral, marine, forest and other resources of the province, in
coordination with the mayors of component cities and municipalities;
provide efficient and effective property and supply management in the
province; and protect the funds, credits, rights, and other properties of
the province.

III. THE WATER CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES. (P.D. NO. 1067)

CHAPTER III. Appropriation of Waters

ARTICLE 13. Except as otherwise herein provided, no person, including

government instrumentalities or government-owned or controlled corporations,
shall appropriate water without a water right, which shall be evidenced by a
document known as a water permit.

Water right is the privilege granted by the government to appropriate and use
water.

ARTICLE 16. Any person who desires to obtain a water permit shall file an
application with the Council who shall make known said application to the
public for any protests.

In determining whether to grant or deny an application, the Council shall

consider the following: protests filed, if any; prior permits granted; the
availability of water; the water supply needed for beneficial use; possible
adverse effects; land-use economics; and other relevant factors.

CHAPTER VI. Conservation and Protection of Waters and Watersheds and

Related Land Resources

ARTICLE 67. Any watershed or any area of land adjacent to any surface water
or overlying any ground water may be declared by the Department of Natural
Resources as protected area. Rules and regulations may be promulgated by
such Department to prohibit or control such activities by the owners or
occupants thereof within the protected area which may damage or cause the
deterioration of the surface water or ground water or interfere with the
investigation, use, control, protection, management or administration of such
waters.

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 IV. WATER CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES (Amended Implementing
Rules and Regulations)

RULE II. CONTROL, CONSERVATION AND PROTECTION OF WATERS,

WATERSHEDS AND RELATED LAND RESOURCES.

SECTION 29. Watershed Management, Protection and Rehabilitation.

The NWRB, DENR and other appropriate agencies involved in watershed

management shall undertake watershed conservation, protection and
rehabilitation and shall adopt appropriate soil and water conservation, and
protection measures to safeguard the hydrological integrity of watersheds and
help sustain the protection of water for various purposes and uses. (i.e. DENR/
Forest Management Bureau (FMB), Bureau of Soils and Water Management
(BSWM), Local Government Units (LGUs), Water District
(WD), private sector, etc.)

V. NATIONAL INTEGRATED PROTECTED AREAS SYSTEM ACT OF

1992 (R.A. NO. 7586)

SECTION 5. Establishment and Extent of the System.

The establishment and operationalization of the System shall involve the

following:

a. All areas or islands in the Philippines proclaimed, designated or set

aside, pursuant to a law, presidential decree, presidential proclamation
or executive order as national park, game refuge, bird and wildlife
sanctuary, wilderness area, strict nature reserve, watershed, mangrove
reserve, fish sanctuary, natural and historical landmark, protected and
managed landscape/seascape as well as identified virgin forests before
the effectivity of this Act are hereby designated as initial components of
the System. The initial components of the System shall be governed by
existing laws, rules and regulations, not inconsistent with this Act.

VI. REVISED FORESTRY CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES (P.D. NO. 705)

SECTION 5. Jurisdiction of Bureau.

The Bureau (Bureau of Forest Development) shall have jurisdiction and

authority over all forest land, grazing lands, and all forest reservations
including watershed reservations presently administered by other government
agencies or instrumentalities.

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 VII. DENR-DILG JOINT MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 98-01

Subject to the general policies on devolution as contained in RA 7160

and DENR Administrative Order No. 30, Series of 1992, the following basic
policies shall govern the implementation of DENR-DILG-LGU partnership on
devolved and other forest management functions:

1.1 The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) shall

be the primary government agency responsible for the conservation,
management, protection, proper use and sustainable development of the
country’s environment and natural resources.

1.2 The LGUs shall share with DENR the responsibility in the
sustainable management and development of the forest resources within
their territorial jurisdiction. Toward this end, the DENR and the LGUs
shall endeavor to strengthen their collaboration and partnership in forest
management.

VIII. PROVINCIAL ORDINANCE NO. 2014-110 SERIES OF 2014

SECTION 10. Scope of Powers.

a) The Province shall:

2. Ensure the attainment and optimization of environmental,
aesthetics and economic benefits from all watershed programs and
projects through holistic, participatory planning and management
and effective implementation of interventions to sustain their
production of multiple foods and services for the present and
future generations.

11. Manage, protect, rehabilitate and maintain small watersheds

which are sources of local water supply as identified by the DENR
and/or the LGU concerned.

SECTION 48. Watershed Management Plan.

The protection, conservation and enhancement of water and water

resources shall be embodied in the Watershed Management Plan that
will be prepared by various Watershed Management Boards in the
Province. The basis of the plan shall be the State of the Watershed
Report of each watershed and sub-watersheds.

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 IX. PROVINCIAL ORDINANCE NO. 2000-041

AN ORDINANCE CREATING THE ILOILO WATERSHED MANAGEMENT

COUNCIL, DEFINING ITS MEMBERSHIP, POWERS, DUTIES AND
RESPONSIBILITIES AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THERFOR

SECTION 1. Creation of Council.

The Iloilo Watershed Management Council (WMC) is hereby created to

oversee the implementation of an Integrated Watershed Management
Strategy in the Province of Iloilo under an equitable, sustainable, multiple-
use, demand driven and participatory development.

SECTION 2. Composition of the Council.

The Iloilo Watershed Management Council shall be composed of the

following representatives:

1. Provincial Governor as its Chairperson

2. Regional Director of the DENR as Vice Chairperson
3. City Mayor of the highly urbanized City of Iloilo
4. Chairpersons of the Environment Committee of the Sangguniang
Panlalawigan and the Sangguniang Panlungsod of the City of Iloilo
5. President of League of Municipalities
6. Regional Director of DPWH
7. Regional Director of DA
8. Regional Director of DAR
9. Regional Director of NIA
10. General Manager of MIWD
11. Regional Director of DECS
12. Regional Director of PIA
13. Regional Director of NEDA
14. Regional Director of PNP
15. Representatives of the Iloilo Business Club
16. Civic Clubs
17. NGOs engaged in watershed development, management, protection
and rehabilitation
18. Representatives of Indigenous People
19. Chairperson of the Provincial Technical Working Group as ex-
officio member

SECTION 3. Powers and functions of the Council.

The Iloilo Watershed Management Council shall have the following powers
and responsibilities:

b. Facilitate the formulation, integration and adoption of a

Comprehensive Management and Development Plan covering all
watersheds in the province.

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 c. Oversee and monitor development activities, programs and projects
concerning the conservation, development, protection,
rehabilitation of watershed in the province.
d. Provide a legal framework to rationalize watershed management in
the province and provide legislative support for watershed
management programs in terms of executive orders, ordinances
and resolutions.
e. Generate revenues and undertake fund-raising activities in
support of the operations of the Council and the projects and
activities it may undertake, and assist the other concerned local
government units in developing and marketing investment
packages for watershed development and management.
f. Obtain technical and logistical assistance from national
government agencies, international organizations, and the
academe for the implementation of the Integrated Watershed
Development Plan
g. Supervise the activities of a Provincial Technical Working group on
Watershed Management.
h. Assist in the creation and establishment of Local Watershed
Management Councils in identified watershed planning units in
the Province of Iloilo.
i. Reconcile conflicts between and among watershed stakeholders
which cannot be settled within the Local Watershed Management
Councils.
j. Perform such other functions as may be necessary for or incidental
to the attainment of the objectives the Council.

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 TIGUM-AGANAN WATERSHED

Background

Tigum-Aganan Watershed (TAW) – located in Panay Island central

Philippines – is a 29,700-ha watershed that touches the province of Antique,
merging with the forest ecosystem in the mountainous area of the province of
Iloilo (Figure 1). Its natural topography ranges from mountains to floodplains
and coastal areas. It is composed of the Tigum River and Aganan River sub-
watersheds and covers eight municipalities and one city of Iloilo province.
There are 309 barangays (villages) within the watershed area. The TAW surface
water is utilized for agriculture, servicing about 7,500 ha of agricultural land –
and for domestic water use, servicing around 25% of the population of Iloilo
City and five municipalities of Iloilo province (Mercado 2012).

As of the 2015 census, Iloilo City has a total population of 448,000 (PSA
2015). Within the larger TAW is the smaller Maasin Watershed Forest Reserve
(MWFR), which is the headwater source of the Metro Iloilo Water District
(MIWD) that supplies the water requirements of Iloilo City (Francisco and Salas
2004). The MWFR, administered by the regional branch of the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), is part of TAW designated as a
protected area under Republic Act 7586 (National Integrated Protected Area
System Act of 1992). The Tigum and Aganan rivers are also designated as a
water quality management area (WQMA) by the DENR under Republic Act 9275
(Clean Water Act).1

State Property Right Holders and the Right of Management

The Philippine Constitution provides that all waters of the Philippines

belong to the State. Its utilization, exploitation, development, conservation, and
protection of water resources shall be subject to the control and regulation of
the government through the NWRB. Further, Article 13 of the Water Code,
stipulates that no person – including government instrumentalities or
government owned or controlled corporations – shall appropriate and use water
without a water right, which shall be evidenced by a water permit.

At the watershed level, there are four local replicates of management

bodies drawn from national mandates: the TAWMB, the Protected Area
Management Board (PAMB), LGUs that have administrative jurisdiction on the
watershed, and the Tigum-Aganan WQMA (See Table 1).

1
Lizada, J. (2018, Aug. 17) Analysis of Water Property Rights and Responsibilities of Rights Holders in Tigum-
Aganan Watershed, Philippines

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 TABLE 1.

The first three bodies plan and implement programs and projects for the
conservation, development, protection, and rehabilitation of the watershed, but
not specifically on water quantity and quality. Most of their initiatives are in
the upstream – focusing on forest concerns such as addressing the problem of
deforestation and agricultural malpractices resulting in soil erosion and,
consequently, the problem of river siltation. In line with the devolved mandate
for environmental protection under the Local Government Code, the Iloilo
Provincial Government created a province-wide Watershed Management
Council, which in turn oversees specific watershed management boards (Salas
2004).

The TAWMB’s scope of management rights includes the formulation and

adoption of a watershed management and development plan; monitoring of
development programs and projects related to the watershed; and generation of
revenues, technical, and logistical assistance as well as investment packages
for watershed development and management.

Meanwhile, the PAMB’s scope of management rights is more substantive

in that it decides on the ground delineation and demarcation of boundaries of

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the protected area and the buffer zone. The zoning of the watershed specifying
the forest reserve, buffer zone, and multi-use area is contained in a
management plan that it is tasked to produce. Likewise, there are eight
municipalities and one city – with corresponding 309 villages within the
bounds of the watershed – that have their own plans and strategies for
managing the watershed within their area of administrative jurisdiction.
Consider that these LGUs have their own sets of local government officials,
headed by the municipal mayors, and legislative bodies, the sangguniang
bayan at the municipal level and the barangay chairman/ captain, and
sangguniang barangay (barangay council) at the village level.

The WQMA Board’s management rights pertain more directly to water

quality. The board is tasked to formulate strategies to coordinate policy
implementation and monitor action plans of each local government unit. It is
responsible for monitoring and facilitating compliance and cooperation among
LGUs and ensuring the coordination and consistency of local legislations
related to water quality and pollution abatement.

Notably, there is cross membership among the three boards. Majority of

the institutions are present in all three bodies (Table 2). Membership in these
bodies includes the mayors of municipalities within the watershed, but only the
PAMB specifies the involvement of village leaders (barangay captains). They
also include members from civil society. Of the two organizations with water
permits, the NIA is not a member of the WQMA, whereas the MIWD is a
member of all three.2 (See ANNEX A)

Private Property and the Right to Exclusion, Transfer/Alienation, Access,

and Withdrawal

The third level is private property right held by the NIA and the MIWD,
derived from water permits issued to them by the NWRB as provided in the
Water Code of the Philippines. These permits grant them rights to exclusion,
transfer/alienation, access to, and withdrawal of surface water from the TAW.
Included at this level are the farmers and households, which have access and
withdrawal rights (See Table 3).

2
Ibid.

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 Property rights of exclusion and alienation/transfer. The NIA’s basic
functions with respect to the management of irrigation systems are operations,
repair and maintenance, fund management for organization and management,
enforcement of procedures and resolution of waterrelated conflicts, and
provision of agricultural support services. It operates and maintains the
irrigation systems in partnership with its farmer-beneficiaries organized into
irrigators’ associations. The agency conducts institutional development
activities to strengthen and enhance the capabilities of these associations to
make them effective partners in the operation and maintenance of the
irrigation systems (NIA 2016). It has intake facilities midstream of the TAW
and was granted water rights by the NWRB on 30 Apr 1980 to extract 7,965
and 7,450 Lps of surface water from Aganan River and Tigum River,
respectively. It manages the entire system but transfers specific operation and
maintenance activities to the irrigators’ associations.

On the other hand, the MIWD – a domestic water provider – is a

government-owned and-controlled corporation that is locally controlled and
managed with support from the national government in the areas of technical
advisory services and financing and whose operation is overseen by the LWUA,
a regulatory body. It was granted a permit to extract its water supply from the
Tigum River for domestic use through an intake dam in Maasin with a capacity
of about 30,240 cu m of water per day. It supplies water for domestic use to
residents of Iloilo City and six municipalities of the province of Iloilo. MIWD
had a spate of contentious relationship with the LGUs of Maasin, Oton, and
San Miguel where its water sources (ground and surface) are located. Following
legal opinions from the Office of Government Counsel, the MIWD stopped
payments to these LGUs for “share of national wealth,” but subsequently
provided for a payment in kind to Maasin for watershed protection (CSA 2009).
It currently has standing arrangements with the LGUs of Oton and San Miguel
to continue extracting from deep wells within the latters’ jurisdiction, but not
for additional drilling or water source development.

In view of the usufruct rights granted, both the NIA and MIWD hold the
property rights of exclusion and provide property rights of access and
withdrawal to farmers through the irrigators’ associations and households,
respectively. Both irrigation agency and water district establish rules for access
(e.g., membership in an irrigators’ association, payment of irrigation fees,
application for meter connection into pipelines, and payment of fees based on a
set rate of domestic water consumption) for its end users, which are farmers
and households.3

3
Ibid.

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