Definition of Terms

PD 705
a) Public forest is the mass of lands of the public domain which has not been the
subject of the present system of classification for the determination of which lands
are needed for forest purposes and which are not.

b) Permanent forest or forest reserves refer to those lands of the public domain
which have been the subject of the present system of classification and
determined to be needed for forest purposes.

c) Alienable and disposable lands refer to those lands of the public domain which
have been the subject of the present system of classification and declared as not
needed for forest purposes.

d) Forest lands include the public forest, the permanent forest or forest reserves,
and forest reservations.

e) Grazing land refers to that portion of the public domain which has been set aside,
in view of the suitability of its topography and vegetation, for the raising of
livestock.

f) Mineral lands refer to those lands of the public domain which have been
classified as such by the Secretary of Natural Resources in accordance with
prescribed and approved criteria, guidelines, and procedure.

g) Forest reservations refer to forest lands which have been reserved by the
President of the Philippines for any specific purpose or purposes.

h) National Park refers to a forest land reservation essentially of primitive or

wilderness character which has been withdrawn from settlement or occupancy
and set aside as such exclusively to preserve the scenery, the natural and historic
objects and the wild animals or plants therein, and to provide enjoyment of these
features in such a manner as will leave them unimpaired for future generations.

i) Game refuge or bird sanctuary refers to a forest land designated for the
protection of game animals, birds and fish and closed to hunting and fishing in
order that the excess population may flow and restock surrounding areas.

j) Marine parks refer to any off-shore area inhabited by rare and unique species of
marine flora and fauna.

k) Seashore Park refers to any public shore area delimited for outdoor recreation,
sports fishing, water skiing and related healthful activities.

l) Watershed reservation is a forest land reservation established to protect or

improve the conditions of the water yield thereof or reduce sedimentation.

m) Watershed is a land area drained by a stream or fixed body of water and its
tributaries having a common outlet for surface run-off.

n) Critical watershed is a drainage area of a river system supporting existing and

proposed hydro-electric power and irrigation works needing immediate
rehabilitation as it is being subjected to a fast denudation causing accelerated
erosion and destructive floods. It is closed from logging until it is fully rehabilitated.

o) Mangrove is a term applied to the type of forest occurring on tidal flat along the
sea coast, extending along streams where the water is brackish.

p) Kaingin is a portion of the forest land, whether occupied or not, which is

subjected to shifting and/or permanent slash-and-burn cultivation having little or
no provision to prevent soil erosion.

q) Forest product means timber, pulpwood, firewood, bark, tree top, resin, gum,
wood, oil, honey, beeswax, nipa, rattan, or other forest growth such as grass,
shrub, and flowering plant, the associated water, fish, game, scenic, historical,
recreational, and geologic resources in forest lands.

r) Dipterocarp forest is a forest dominated by trees of the dipterocarp species,

such as red lauan, tengile, tiaong, white lauan, almon, bagtikan and mayapis of
the Philippine mahogany group, apitong and the yakals.

s) Pine forest is a forest composed of the Benguet Pine in the Mountain Provinces
or the Mindoro pine in Mindoro and Zambales provinces.

t) Industrial tree plantation is any tract of forest land purposely and extensively
planted to timber crops primarily to supply the raw material requirements of
existing or proposed processing plants and related industries.

u) Tree farm refers to any tract of forest land purposely and extensively planted to
trees of economic value for their fruits, flowers, leaves, barks, or extractives, but
not for the wood thereof.

v) Multiple-use is the harmonized utilization of the numerous beneficial uses of the

land, soil, water, wildlife, recreation value, grass and timber of forest lands.

w) Selective logging means the systematic removal of the mature, over-mature and
defective trees in such manner as to leave adequate number and volume of
healthy residual trees of the desired species necessary to assure a future crop of
timber, and forest cover for the protection and conservation of soil and water.

x) Seed tree system is partial clearcutting with seed trees left to regenerate the
area.

y) Healthy residual is a sound or slightly injured tree of the commercial species left
after logging.

z) Sustained-yield management implies continuous or periodic production of forest

products in a working unit with the aid of achieving at the earliest practicable time
an approximate balance between growth and harvest or use. This is generally
applied to the commercial timber resources and is also applicable to the water,
grass, wildlife, and other renewable resources of the forest.

aa) Processing plant is any mechanical set-up, machine or combination of machine

used for the processing of logs and other forest raw materials into lumber, veneer,

LAWS – DEFINITION OF TERMS - SRI

 plywood, wallboard, block-board, paper board, pulp, paper or other finished wood
products.

bb) Lease is a privilege granted by the State to a person to occupy and possess, in
consideration of a specified rental, any forest land of the public domain in order to
undertake any authorized activity therein.

cc) License is a privilege granted by the State to a person to utilize forest resources
as in any forest land, without any right of occupation and possession over the
same, to the exclusion of others, or establish and operate a wood-processing
plant, or conduct any activity involving the utilization of any forest resources.

dd) License agreement is a privilege granted by the State to a person to utilize forest
resources within any forest land with the right of possession and occupation
thereof to the exclusion of others, except the government, but with the
corresponding obligation to develop, protect and rehabilitate the same in
accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in said agreement.

ee) Permit is a short-term privilege or authority granted by the State to a person to

utilize any limited forest resources or undertake a limited activity with any forest
land without any right of occupation and possession therein.

ff) Annual allowable cut is the volume of materials, whether of wood or other forest
products, that is authorized to be cut regularly from the forest.

gg) Cutting cycle is the number of years between major harvests in the same
working unit and/or region, within a rotation.

hh) Ecosystem means the ecological community considered together with non-living
factors and its environment as a unit.

ii) Silviculture is the establishment, development reproduction and care of forest

trees.

jj) Rationalization is the organization of a business or industry using scientific

business management principles and simplified procedures to obtain greater
efficiency of operation.

kk) Forest officer means any official or employee of the Bureau who, by the nature
of his appointment or the function of the position to which he is appointed, is
delegated by law or by competent authority to execute, implement or enforce the
provisions of this Code, other related laws, as well as their implementing
regulations.

ll) Primitive tribe is a group of endemic tribes living primitively as a distinct portion
of a people from a common ancestor.

mm) Private right means or refers to titled rights of ownership under existing laws, and
in the case of primitive tribes, to rights of possession existing at the time a license
is granted under this Code, which possession may include places of abode and
worship, burial grounds, and old clearings, but excludes production forest
inclusive of logged-over areas, commercial forests and established plantations of
forest trees and trees of economic value.

nn) Person includes natural as well as juridical person.

RA 8371
a) Ancestral Domains - Subject to Section 56 hereof, refer to all areas generally
belonging to ICCs/IPs comprising lands, inland waters, coastal areas, and natural
resources therein, held under a claim of ownership, occupied or possessed by
ICCs/IPs, themselves or through their ancestors, communally or individually since
time immemorial, continuously to the present except when interrupted by war,
force majeure or displacement by force, deceit, stealth or as a consequence of
government projects or any other voluntary dealings entered into by government
and private individuals, corporations, and which are necessary to ensure their
economic, social and cultural welfare. It shall include ancestral land, forests,
pasture, residential, agricultural, and other lands individually owned whether
alienable and disposable or otherwise, hunting grounds, burial grounds, worship
areas, bodies of water, mineral and other natural resources, and lands which may
no longer be exclusively occupied by ICCs/IPs but from which their traditionally
had access to for their subsistence and traditional activities, particularly the home
ranges of ICCs/IPs who are still nomadic and/or shifting cultivators;

b) Ancestral Lands - Subject to Section 56 hereof, refers to land occupied,

possessed and utilized by individuals, families and clans who are members of the
ICCs/IPs since time immemorial, by themselves or through their predecessors-in-
interest, under claims of individual or traditional group ownership, continuously, to
the present except when interrupted by war, force majeure or displacement by
force, deceit, stealth, or as a consequence of government projects and other
voluntary dealings entered into by government and private
individuals/corporations, including, but not limited to, residential lots, rice terraces
or paddies, private forests, swidden farms and tree lots;

c) Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title - refers to a title formally recognizing the

rights of possession and ownership of ICCs/IPs over their ancestral domains
identified and delineated in accordance with this law;

d) Certificate of Ancestral Lands Title - refers to a title formally recognizing the

rights of ICCs/IPs over their ancestral lands;

e) Communal Claims - refer to claims on land, resources, and rights thereon,

belonging to the whole community within a defined territory

f) Customary Laws - refer to a body of written and/or unwritten rules, usages,

customs, and practices traditionally and continually recognized, accepted and
observed by respective ICCs/IPs;

g) Free and Prior Informed Consent - as used in this Act shall mean the
consensus of all members of the ICCs/IPs to; be determined in accordance with
their respective customary laws and practices, free from any external
manipulation, interference, and coercion, and obtained after fully disclosing the
intent and scope of the activity, in a language a process understandable to the
community;

LAWS – DEFINITION OF TERMS - SRI

 h) Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples - refer to a group of
people or homogenous societies identified by self-ascription and ascription by
other, who have continuously lived as organized community on communally
bounded and defined territory, and who have, under claims of ownership since
time immemorial, occupied, possessed customs, tradition and other distinctive
cultural traits, or who have, through resistance to political, social and cultural
inroads of colonization, non-indigenous religions and culture, became historically
differentiated from the majority of Filipinos. ICCs/IPs shall likewise include
peoples who are regarded as indigenous on account of their descent from the
populations which inhabited the country, at the time of conquest or colonization,
or at the time of inroads of non-indigenous religions and cultures, or the
establishment of present state boundaries, who retain some or all of their own
social, economic, cultural and political institutions, but who may have been
displaced from their traditional domains or who may have resettled outside their
ancestral domains;

i) Indigenous Political Structure - refer to organizational and cultural leadership

systems, institutions, relationships, patterns and processed for decision-making
and participation, identified by ICCs/IPs such as, but not limited to, Council of
Elders, Council of Timuays, Bodong Holder, or any other tribunal or body of
similar nature;

j) Individual Claims - refer to claims on land and rights thereon which have been
devolved to individuals, families and clans including, but not limited to, residential
lots, rice terraces or paddies and tree lots;

k) National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) - refers to the office

created under this Act, which shall be under the Office of the President, and which
shall be the primary government agency responsible for the formulation and
implementation of policies, plans, and programs to recognize, protect and
promote the rights of ICCs/IPs;

l) Native Title - refers to pre-conquest rights to lands and domains which, as far
back as memory reaches, have been held under a claim of private ownership by
ICCs/IPs, have never been public lands and are thus indisputably presumed to
have been held that way since before the Spanish Conquest;

m) Nongovernment Organization - refers to a private, nonprofit voluntary

organization that has been organized primarily for the delivery of various services
to the ICCs/IPs and has an established track record for effectiveness and
acceptability in the community where it serves;

n) People's Organization - refers to a private, nonprofit voluntary organization of

members of an ICC/IP which is accepted as representative of such ICCs/IPs;

o) Sustainable Traditional Resource Rights - refer to the rights of ICCs/IPs to

sustainably use, manage, protect, and conserve a) land, air, water, and minerals;
b) plants, animals, and other organisms; c) collecting, fishing, and hunting
grounds; d) sacred sites; and e) other areas of economic, ceremonial and
aesthetic value in accordance with their indigenous knowledge, beliefs, systems
and practices; and

p) Time Immemorial - refers to a period of time when as far back as memory can
go, certain ICCs/IPs are known to have occupied, possessed in the concept of
owner, and utilized a defined territory devolved to them, by operation of
customary law or inherited from their ancestors, in accordance with their customs
and traditions.

RA 7586
a) National Integrated Protected Areas Systems (NIPAS) is the classification and
administration of all designated protected areas to maintain essential ecological
processes and life-support systems, to preserve genetic diversity, to ensure
sustainable use of resources found therein, and to maintain their natural
conditions to the greatest extent possible;

b) Protected area refers to identified portions of land and water set aside by reason
of their unique physical and biological significance, managed to enhance
biological diversity, and protected against destructive human exploitation;

c) Buffer zones are identified areas outside the boundaries of and immediately
adjacent to designated protected areas pursuant to Section 8 that need special
development control in order to avoid or minimize harm to the protected area;

d) Indigenous cultural community refers to a group of people sharing common

bonds of language, customs, traditions, and other distinctive cultural traits, and
who have, since time immemorial, occupied, possessed, and utilized a territory;

e) National Park refers to a forest reservation essentially of natural wilderness

character which has been withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or any form of
exploitation except in conformity with approved management plan and set aside
as such exclusively to conserve the area or preserve the scenery, the natural and
historic objects, wild animals, and plants therein and to provide enjoyment of
these features in such areas;

f) Natural monument is a relatively small area focused on protection of small

features to protect or preserve nationally significant natural features on account of
their special interest or unique characteristics;

g) Natural biotic area is an area set aside to allow the way of life of societies living
in harmony with the environment to adapt to modem technology at their pace;

h) Natural Park is a relatively large area not materially altered by human activity
where extractive resource uses are not allowed and maintained to protect
outstanding natural and scenic areas of national or international significance for
scientific, educational, and recreational use;

i) Protected landscapes/seascapes are areas of national significance which are

characterized by the harmonious interaction of man and land while providing
opportunities for public enjoyment through recreation and tourism within the
normal lifestyle and economic activity of these areas;

j) Resource reserve is an extensive and relatively isolated and uninhabited area

normally with difficult access designated as such to protect natural resources of
the area for future use and prevent or contain development activities that could

LAWS – DEFINITION OF TERMS - SRI

 affect the resource pending the establishment of objectives which are based upon
appropriate knowledge and planning;

k) Strict nature reserve is an area possessing some outstanding ecosystem,

features and/or species of flora and fauna of national scientific importance
maintained to protect nature and maintain processes in an undisturbed state in
order to have ecologically representative examples of the natural environment
available for scientific study, environmental monitoring, education, and for the
maintenance of genetic resources in a dynamic and evolutionary state;

l) Tenured migrant communities are communities within protected areas which

have actually and continuously occupied such areas for five (5) years before the
designation of the same as protected areas in accordance with this Act and are
solely dependent therein for subsistence; and

m) Wildlife sanctuary comprises an area which assures the natural conditions

necessary to protect nationally significant species, groups of species, biotic
communities, or physical features of the environment where these may require
specific human manipulation for the perpetuation.

RA 7942
a) Ancestral lands refer to all lands exclusively and actually possessed, occupied,
or utilized by indigenous cultural communities by themselves or through their
ancestors in accordance with their customs and traditions since time immemorial,
and as may be defined and delineated by law.

b) Block or meridional block means an area bounded by one-half (1/2) minute of

latitude and one-half (1/2) minute of longitude, containing approximately eighty-
one hectares (81 has.).

c) Bureau means the Mines and Geosciences Bureau under the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources.

d) Carrying capacity refers to the capacity of natural and human environments to

accommodate and absorb change without experiencing conditions of instability
and attendant degradation.

e) Contiguous zone refers to water, sea bottom and substratum measured twenty-
four nautical miles (24 n.m.) seaward from the base line of the Philippine
archipelago.

f) Contract area means land or body of water delineated for purposes of

exploration, development, or utilization of the minerals found therein.

g) Contractor means a qualified person acting alone or in consortium who is a party

to a mineral agreement or to a financial or technical assistance agreement.

h) Co-production agreement (CA) means an agreement entered into between the

Government and one or more contractors in accordance with Section 26(b)
hereof.

i) Department means the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

j) Development means the work undertaken to explore and prepare an ore body or
a mineral deposit for mining, including the construction of necessary infrastructure
and related facilities.

k) Director means the Director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.

l) Ecological profile or eco-profile refers to geographic-based instruments for

planners and decision-makers which presents an evaluation of the environmental
quality and carrying capacity of an area.

m) Environmental compliance certificate (ECC) refers to the document issued by

the government agency concerned certifying that the project under consideration
will not bring about an unacceptable environmental impact and that the proponent
has complied with the requirements of the environmental impact statement
system.

n) Environmental impact statement (EIS) is the document which aims to identify,

predict, interpret, and communicate information regarding changes in
environmental quality associated with a proposed project and which examines the
range of alternatives for the objectives of the proposal and their impact on the
environment.

o) Exclusive economic zone means the water, sea bottom and subsurface
measured from the baseline of the Philippine archipelago up to two hundred
nautical miles (200 n.m.) offshore.

p) Existing mining/quarrying right means a valid and subsisting mining claim or

permit or quarry permit or any mining lease contract or agreement covering a
mineralized area granted/issued under pertinent mining laws.

q) Exploration means the searching or prospecting for mineral resources by

geological, geochemical, or geophysical surveys, remote sensing, test pitting,
trenching, drilling, shaft sinking, tunneling or any other means for the purpose of
determining the existence, extent, quantity, and quality thereof and the feasibility
of mining them for profit.

r) Financial or technical assistance agreement means a contract involving

financial or technical assistance for large-scale exploration, development, and
utilization of mineral resources.

s) Force majeure means acts or circumstances beyond the reasonable control of

contractor including, but not limited to, war, rebellion, insurrection, riots, civil
disturbance, blockade, sabotage, embargo, strike, lockout, any dispute with
surface owners and other labor disputes, epidemic, earthquake, storm, flood or
other adverse weather conditions, explosion, fire, adverse action by government
or by any instrumentality or subdivision thereof, act of God or any public enemy
and any cause that herein describe over which the affected party has no
reasonable control.

LAWS – DEFINITION OF TERMS - SRI

t) Foreign-owned corporation means any corporation, partnership, association, or
cooperative duly registered in accordance with law in which less than fifty per
centum (50%) of the capital is owned by Filipino citizens.

u) Government means the government of the Republic of the Philippines.

v) Gross output means the actual market value of minerals or mineral products
from its mining area as defined in the National Internal Revenue Code.

w) Indigenous cultural community means a group or tribe of indigenous Filipinos

who have continuously lived as communities on communally-bounded and
defined land since time immemorial and have succeeded in preserving,
maintaining, and sharing common bonds of languages, customs, traditions, and
other distinctive cultural traits, and as may be defined and delineated by law.

x) Joint venture agreement (JVA) means an agreement entered into between the
Government and one or more contractors in accordance with Section 26(c)
hereof.

y) Mineral processing means the milling, beneficiation or upgrading of ores or

minerals and rocks or by similar means to convert the same into marketable
products.

z) Mine wastes and tailings shall mean soil and rock materials from surface or
underground mining and milling operations with no economic value to the
generator of the same.

aa) Minerals refers to all naturally occurring inorganic substance in solid, gas, liquid,
or any intermediate state excluding energy materials such as coal, petroleum,
natural gas, radioactive materials, and geothermal energy.

bb) Mineral agreement means a contract between the government and a contractor,
involving mineral production-sharing agreement, co-production agreement, or
joint-venture agreement.

cc) Mineral land means any area where mineral resources are found.

dd) Mineral resource means any concentration of minerals/rocks with potential

economic value.

ee) Mining area means a portion of the contract area identified by the contractor for
purposes of development, mining, utilization, and sites for support facilities or in
the immediate vicinity of the mining operations.

ff) Mining operation means mining activities involving exploration, feasibility,

development, utilization, and processing.

gg) Non-governmental organization (NGO) includes nonstock, nonprofit

organizations involved in activities dealing with resource and environmental
conservation, management, and protection.

hh) Net assets refer to the property, plant and equipment as reflected in the audited
financial statement of the contractor net of depreciation, as computed for tax
purposes, excluding appraisal increase and construction in progress.

ii) Offshore means the water, sea bottom and subsurface from the shore or
coastline reckoned from the mean low tide level up to the two hundred nautical
miles (200 n.m.) exclusive economic zone including the archipelagic sea and
contiguous zone.

jj) Onshore means the landward side from the mean tide elevation, including
submerged lands in lakes, rivers and creeks.

kk) Ore means a naturally occurring substance or material from which a mineral or
element can be mined and/or processed for profit.

ll) Permittee means the holder of an exploration permit.

mm) Pollution control and infrastructure devices refers to infrastructure, machinery,

equipment, and/or improvements used for impounding, treating or neutralizing,
precipitating, filtering, conveying and cleansing mine industrial waste and tailings
as well as eliminating or reducing hazardous effects of solid particles, chemicals,
liquids or other harmful byproducts and gases emitted from any facility utilized in
mining operations for their disposal.

nn) President means the President of the Republic of the Philippines.

oo) Private land refers to any land belonging to any private person which includes
alienable and disposable land being claimed by a holder, claimant, or occupant
who has already acquired a vested right thereto under the law, although the
corresponding certificate or evidence of title or patent has not been actually
issued.

pp) Public land refers to lands of the public domain which have been classified as
agricultural lands and subject to management and disposition or concession
under existing laws.

qq) Qualified person means any citizen of the Philippines with capacity to contract,
or a corporation, partnership, association, or cooperative organized or authorized
for the purpose of engaging in miring, with technical and financial capability to
undertake mineral resources development and duly registered in accordance with
law at least sixty per centum (60%) of the capital of which is owned by citizens of
the Philippines: Provided, That a legally organized foreign-owned corporation
shall be deemed a qualified person for purposes of granting an exploration permit,
financial or technical assistance agreement or mineral processing permit.

rr) Quarrying means the process of extracting, removing, and disposing quarry
resources found on or underneath the surface of private or public land.

ss) Quarry permit means a document granted to a qualified person for the extraction
and utilization of quarry resources on public or private lands.

tt) Quarry resources refers to any common rock or other mineral substances as the
Director of Mines and Geosciences Bureau may declare to be quarry resources
such as, but not limited to, andesite, basalt, conglomerate, coral sand,
diatomaceous earth, diorite, decorative stones, gabbro, granite, limestone,

LAWS – DEFINITION OF TERMS - SRI

 marble, marl, red burning clays for potteries and bricks, rhyolite, rock phosphate,
sandstone, serpentine, shale, tuff, volcanic cinders, and volcanic glass: Provided,
That such quarry resources do not contain metals or metallic constituents and/or
other valuable minerals in economically workable quantities: Provided, further,
That non-metallic minerals such as kaolin, feldspar, bull quartz, quartz or silica,
sand and pebbles, bentonite, talc, asbestos, barite, gypsum, bauxite, magnesite,
dolomite, mica, precious and semi-precious stones, and other non-metallic
minerals that may later be discovered and which the: Director declares the same
to be of economically workable quantities, shall not be classified under the
category of quarry resources.

uu) Regional director means the regional director of any mines regional office under
the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

vv) Regional office means any of the mines regional offices of the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources.

ww) Secretary means the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources.

xx) Special allowance refers to payment to the claim-owners or surface right-owners

particularly during the transition period from Presidential Decree No. 463 and
Executive Order No. 279, series of 1987.

yy) State means the Republic of the Philippines.

zz) Utilization means the extraction or disposition of minerals.

RA 7076
(a) Mineralized areas refer to areas with naturally occurring mineral deposits of gold,
silver, chromite, kaolin, silica, marble, gravel, clay and like mineral resources;

(b) Small-scale mining refers to mining activities which rely heavily on manual labor
using simple implement and methods and do not use explosives or heavy mining
equipment;

(c) Small-scale miners refer to Filipino citizens who, individually or in the company
of other Filipino citizens, voluntarily form a cooperative duly licensed by the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources to engage, under the terms
and conditions of a contract, in the extraction or removal of minerals or ore-
bearing materials from the ground;

(d) Small-scale mining contract refers to co-production, joint venture or mineral

production sharing agreement between the State and a small-scale mining
contractor for the small-scale utilization of a plot of mineral land;

(e) Small-scale mining contractor refers to an individual or a cooperative of small-

scale miners, registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other
appropriate government agency, which has entered into an agreement with the
State for the small-scale utilization of a plot of mineral land within a people's
small-scale mining area;

(f) Active mining area refers to areas under actual exploration, development,
exploitation, or commercial production as determined by the Secretary after the
necessary field investigation or verification including contiguous and geologically
related areas belonging to the same claimowner and/or under contract with an
operator, but in no case to exceed the maximum area allowed by law;

(g) Existing mining right refers to perfected and subsisting claim, lease, license, or
permit covering a mineralized area prior to its declaration as a people's small-
scale mining area;

(h) Claimowner refers to a holder of an existing mining right;

(i) Processor refers to a person issued a license to engage in the treatment of

minerals or ore-bearing materials such as by gravity concentration, leaching
beneficiation, cyanidation, cutting, sizing, polishing and other similar activities;

(j) License refers to the privilege granted to a person to legitimately pursue his
occupation as a small-scale miner or processor under this Act; Chan robles virtual
law library

(k) Mining plan refers to a two-year program of activities and methodologies

employed in the extraction and production of minerals or ore-bearing materials,
including the financial plan and other resources in support thereof;

(l) Director refers to the regional executive director of the Department of

Environment and Natural Resources; and

(m) Secretary refers to the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources.

PD 1152
a) Ambient Air Quality means the average atmospheric purity as distinguished
from discharge measurements taken at the source of pollution. It is the general
amount of pollution present in a broad area.

b) Emission means the act of passing into the atmosphere an air contaminant,
pollutant, gas stream and unwanted sound from a known source.

c) Water Quality means the characteristics of water which define its use in terms of
physical, chemical, and biological contents; hence, the quality of water for
domestic use is different from industrial use.

d) Water Quality Surveillance means a close and continuous supervision of the

water quality to detect development, movement, or charges in the characteristics
of the water.

e) Water Quality Standard means a plan that is established by governmental

authority as a program for water pollution prevention and abatement. Such

LAWS – DEFINITION OF TERMS - SRI

 standard may include water classification and the criteria to support the uses of
the water.

f) Effluent Standards means restrictions established to limit levels of concentration

of physical, chemical, and biological constituents which are discharged from point
sources.

g) Clean-up Operations refers to activities conducted in removing the pollutants

discharged or spilled in water to restore it to pre-spill condition.

h) Accidental Spills refers to spills of oil or other hazardous substances in water

that result from accidents such as collisions and groundings.

i) Areas of Critical Environmental Concern are areas where uncontrolled

development could result in irreparable damage to important historic, cultural, or
aesthetic values or natural systems or processes of national significance.

j) Hazardous Substances means elements or compounds which when discharged

in any quantity present imminent or substantial danger to public health and
welfare.

k) Areas Impacted by Public Facilities refers to areas where the introduction of

public facilities may tend to induce development and urbanization of more than
local significance or impact.

l) Environmental Impact is the alteration, to any degree, of environmental

conditions or the creation of a new set of environmental conditions, adverse or
beneficial, to be induced or caused by a proposed project.

m) Government Agencies refers to national, local and regional agencies and

instrumentalities including government-owned or controlled corporations.

BP 220
a) ALLEY: A public way intended to serve both pedestrian and emergency vehicles,
and also access to lots, both ends always connecting to streets.

b) BLOCK: A parcel of land bounded on the sides by streets or alleys or pathways

or other natural or manmade features, and occupied by or intended for buildings.

c) CLUSTER HOUSING: A single-family attached dwelling containing three or

more separate living units grouped closely together to form relatively compact
structures.

d) COMMISSION: Shall mean the Human Settlements Regulatory Commission.

e) COMMUNITY: Facilities or structures intended

f) FACILITIES To serve common needs and for the benefit of the community, such
as: neighborhood/ multi-purpose center, health center, drugstore, school,
livelihood center, etc.

g) DWELLING: A building designed or used as residence for one or more families.

h) SINGLE-FAMILY DETACHED: A dwelling for one family which is completely

surrounded by permanent open spaces, with independent access, services, and
use of land.

i) SINGLE-FAMILY ATTACHED: A dwelling containing two or more separate living

units each of which is separated from another by party or lot lines walls and
provided with independent access, services, and use of land. Such dwellings shall
include duplexes, row houses or terraces, and cluster housing.

j) MULTI-FAMILY DWELLING: A dwelling on one lot containing separate living

units for 3 or more families, usually provided with common access, services, and
use of land

k) ECONOMIC AND SOCIALIZED HOUSING: A type of housing project provided to

moderately low-income families with lower interest rates and longer
amortization periods.

l) FIREBLOCK: Any wall which separate two abutting living units so as to resist the
spread of fire. Such wall shall be of masonry construction (e.g., cement
hollow blocks, bricks, reinforced concrete, etc.) at least "4" thick, and shall extend
throughout the whole length of the living units and from the lowest portion of the
wall adjoining the living units up to the point just below the roof covering of purlins.

m) FIRE-RESISTIVE TIME PERIOD RATING: Fire resistive time period is the length
of time a material can withstand being burned which may be one-hour, 2-hours, 3-
hours, 4-hours, etc.

n) FIRE WALL: A fireblock with extends vertically from the lowest portion of the wall
which adjoins the 2 living units up to a minimum height of 0.30 meter above
the highest portion of the roof attached to it; the fire wall shall also extend
horizontally up to a minimum distance of 0.30 meter beyond the outermost edge
of the abutting living units.

o) FRONTAGE: That part or end of a lot which abuts a street.

p) LIVING UNIT: A dwelling, or portion thereof, providing complete living facilities for
one family, including provisions for living, sleeping, cooking, eating, bathing and
toilet facilities and laundry facilities, the same as a single family-dwelling.

q) LOT/PLOT: A portion of a subdivision or any parcel of land intended as a unit for

transfer of ownership or for building development.

r) LOT LINE WALL: A wall used only by the party upon whose lot the wall
is located, erected at a line separating two parcels of land each of which is a
separate real estate entity.

s) OCCUPANCY: The purpose for which a building is used or intended to be used.

The term shall also include the building or room housing such use. Change
of occupancy is not intended to include change of tenants or proprietors.

t) OPEN SPACE: Shall refer to areas allocated for the following purposes:

LAWS – DEFINITION OF TERMS - SRI

 — Circulation
— Community facilities
— Park/Playground
— Easements
— Courts

u) PARTY WALL: A wall used jointly by two parties under easement

agreement, erected upon a line separating two parcels of land each of which is a
separate real estate.

v) PARK/PLAYGROUND: That portion of the subdivision which is generally not built

on and intended for passive or active recreation.

w) PATHWALK/FOOTPATH: A public way intended for pedestrian and which cuts

across a block to provide access to adjacent streets or property with maximum
length of 100 meters if connecting to roads and 50 meters if terminating in a dead
end.

x) ROW HOUSE: A single-family attached dwelling containing three or

more separate living units designed in such a way that they abutt each other at
the sides, as in a row, and are separated from each other by party walls:
provided with independent access, services, and use of land.

y) TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS: Shall refer to the set of documents required by

the Commission for the processing and approval of economic and
socialized housing projects including systems and procedures for the
implementation and enforcement of BP 220.

1) Underdeveloped Area — characterized by the predominant absence of

utility systems or networks, especially water supply, roads, and power.

2) Developed Area — characterized by the predominant presence of utility

systems or network, especially water supply, roads, and power.

RA 7279
a) Affordable cost refers to the most reasonable price of land and shelter based on
the needs and financial capability of Program beneficiaries and appropriate
financing schemes;

b) Areas for priority development refers to those areas declared as such under
existing statutes and pertinent executive issuances.

c) Blighted lands refers to the areas where the structures are dilapidated, obsolete
and unsanitary, tending to depreciate the value of the land and prevent normal
development and use of the area.

d) "Consultation" refers to the constitutionally mandated process whereby the public,

on their own or through people's organizations, is provided an opportunity to be
heard and to participate in the decision-making process on matters involving the
protection and promotion of its legitimate collective interest, which shall include
appropriate documentation and feedback mechanisms;

e) "Idle lands" refers to non-agricultural lands urban and urbanized areas on which
no improvements, as herein defined, have been made by the owner, as certified
by the city, municipal or provincial assessor;

f) "Improvements" refers to all types of buildings and residential units, walls, fences,
structures or constructions of all kinds of a fixed character or which are adhered to
the soil but shall not include trees, plants and growing fruits, and other fixtures
that are mere superimpositions on the land, and the value of improvements shall
not be less than fifty percent (50%) of the assessed value of the property;

g) "Joint venture" refers to the commitment or agreement by two (2) or more persons
to carry out a specific or single business enterprise for their mutual benefit, for
which purpose they combine their funds, land resources, facilities and services;

h) "Land assembly or consolidation" refers to the acquisition of lots of varying

ownership through purchase or expropriation of the purpose of planned and
rational development and socialized housing programs without individual property
boundary restrictions;

i) Land banking refers to the acquisition of land at values based on existing use in
advance of actual need to promote planned development and socialized housing
programs;

j) Land swapping refers to the process of land acquisition by exchanging land for
another piece of land of equal value, or for shares of stock in a government or
quasi-government corporation whose book value is of equal value to the land
being exchanged, for the purpose of planned and rational development and
provision for socialized housing where land values are determined based on land
classification, market value and assessed value taken from existing tax
declarations: Provided, That more valuable lands owned by private persons may
be exchanged with less valuable lands to carry out the objectives of this Act;

k) Land use plan refers to the rational approach of allocating available resources as
equitably as possible among competing user groups and for different functions
consistent with the development plan of the area and the Program under this Act;

l) On-site development refers to the process of upgrading and rehabilitation of

blighted slum urban areas with a view of minimizing displacement of dwellers in
said areas, and with provisions for basic services as provided for in Section 21
hereof;

m) Professional squatters refer to individuals or groups who occupy lands without

the express consent of the landowner and who have sufficient income for
legitimate housing. The term shall also apply to persons who have previously
been awarded homelots or housing units by the Government but who sold,
leased, or transferred the same to settle illegally in the same place or in another
urban area, and non-bona fide occupants and intruders of lands reserved for
socialized housing. The term shall not apply to individuals or groups who simply
rent land and housing from professional squatters or squatting syndicates;

LAWS – DEFINITION OF TERMS - SRI

 n) Resettlement areas refer to areas identified by the appropriate national agency
or by the local government unit with respect to areas within its jurisdiction, which
shall be used for the relocation of the underprivileged and homeless citizens;

o) Security of tenure refers to the degree of protection afforded to qualified

Program beneficiaries against infringement or unjust, reasonable, and arbitrary
eviction or disposition, by virtue of the right of ownership, lease agreement,
usufruct, and other contractual arrangements;

p) Slum Improvement and Resettlement Program or SIR refers to the program of

the National Housing Authority of upgrading and improving blighted squatter
areas outside of Metro Manila pursuant to existing statutes and pertinent
executive issuances;

q) Small property owners refer to those whose only real property consists of
residential lands not exceeding three hundred square meters (300 sq.m.) in highly
urbanized cities and eight hundred square meters (800 sq.m.) in other urban
areas;

r) Socialized housing refers to housing programs and projects covering houses

and lots or homelots only undertaken by the Government or the private sector for
the underprivileged and homeless citizens which shall include sites and services
development, long-term financing, liberalized terms on interest payments, and
such other benefits in accordance with the provisions of this Act;

s) Squatting syndicates refers to groups of persons engaged in the business of

squatter housing for profit or gain;

t) Underprivileged and homeless citizens refer to the beneficiaries of this Act and
to individuals or families residing in urban and urbanizable areas whose income or
combined household income falls within the poverty threshold as defined by the
National Economic and Development Authority and who do not own housing
facilities. This shall include those who live in makeshift dwelling units and do not
enjoy security of tenure;

u) Unregistered or abandoned lands refers to lands in urban and urbanizable

areas which are not registered with the Register of Deeds, or with the city or
municipal assessor's office concerned, or which are uninhabited by the owner and
have not been developed or devoted for any useful purpose, or appears unutilized
for a period of three (3) consecutive years immediately prior to the issuance and
receipt of publication of notice of acquisition by the Government as provided
under this Act. It does not include land which has been abandoned by reason of
force majeure or any other fortuitous event: Provided, that prior to such event,
such land was previously used for some useful or economic purpose;

v) Urban areas refer to all cities regardless of their population density and to
municipalities with a population density of at least five hundred (500) persons per
square kilometers;

w) Urbanizable areas refer to sites and lands which, considering present

characteristics and prevailing conditions, display marked and great potential of
becoming urban areas within the period of five (5) years; and

x) Zonal Improvement Program or ZIP refers to the program of the National

Housing Authority of upgrading and improving blighted squatters’ areas within the
cities and municipalities of Metro Manila pursuant to existing statutes and
pertinent executive issuances.

RA 7279 IIR
a) Board shall refer to the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board

b) Condominium Project as defined under PD957 (c) "Condominium" as defined

under PD 4726 (d) "Developer" as defined under PD 957 (e) "Project Area" shall
mean:

b.1 for subdivision projects without housing component, the gross

developed land area
b.2 for subdivision projects with housing component:
b.2.1 gross developed land area and
b.2.2 aggregate floor area of all housing units
b.3 for condominium projects, the gross floor area of residential units.

c) Project Cost refers to cost of the project based on the following;

c.1 current market value of the raw land plus estimated land development
cost plus estimated housing project cost or
c.2 HIGC preliminary appraisal for projects requiring HIGC guarantee or
HIGC appraisal definition

d) Socialized Housing in addition to the Housing Act (RA 7279), it shall refer to
projects intended for the underprivileged and homeless wherein the housing
package selling price is within the lowest interest rate under the Unified Home
Lending Program (UHLP) or any equivalent housing program of the Government,
the private sector or non-government organizations.

e) Subdivision Project as defined in PD 957

f) Main Subdivision Project shall refer to the proposed residential subdivision or

residential condominium project which shall be the basis for computing the 20%
requirement for socialized housing.

g) New Settlement shall mean any new, large- scale development, consisting of
one or several subdivision projects planned to provide housing, work places and
related facilities within a more or less self-contained environment.

RA 7160
a) Agricultural Product includes the yield of the soil, such as corn, rice, wheat, rye,
hay, coconuts, sugarcane, tobacco, root crops, vegetables, fruits, flowers, and
their by-products; ordinary salt; all kinds of fish; poultry; and livestock and animal
products, whether in their original form or not. The phrase "whether in their
original form or not" refers to the transformation of said products by the farmer,

LAWS – DEFINITION OF TERMS - SRI

 fisherman, producer, or owner through the application of processes to preserve or
otherwise to prepare said products for the market such as freezing, drying,
salting, smoking, or stripping for purposes of preserving or otherwise preparing
said products for the market;

b) Amusement is a pleasurable diversion and entertainment. It is synonymous to

relaxation, avocation, pastime, or fun;

c) Amusement Places include theaters, cinemas, concert halls, circuses and other
places of amusement where one seeks admission to entertain oneself by seeing
or viewing the show or performances;

d) Business means trade or commercial activity regularly engaged in as a means of

livelihood or with a view to profit;

e) Banks and other financial institutions include non-bank financial

intermediaries, lending investors, finance and investment companies, pawnshops,
money shops, insurance companies, stock markets, stock brokers and dealers in
securities and foreign exchange, as defined under applicable laws, or rules and
regulations thereunder;

f) Capital Investment is the capital which a person employs in any undertaking, or

which he contributes to the capital of a partnership, corporation, or any other
juridical entity or association in a particular taxing jurisdiction;

g) Charges refer to pecuniary liability, as rents or fees against persons or property.

h) Contractor includes persons, natural or juridical, not subject to professional tax

under Section 139 of this Code, whose activity consists essentially of the sale of
all kinds of services for a fee, regardless of whether or not the performance of the
service calls for the exercise or use of the physical or mental faculties of such
contractor or his employees.

As used in this Section, the term "contractor" shall include general engineering,
general building and specialty contractors as defined under applicable laws; filling,
demolition and salvage works contractors; proprietors or operators of mine drilling
apparatus; proprietors or operators of dockyards; persons engaged in the
installation of water system, and gas or electric light, heat, or power; proprietors or
operators of smelting plants; engraving, plating, and plastic lamination
establishments; proprietors or operators of establishments for repairing,
repainting, upholstering, washing or greasing of vehicles, heavy equipment,
vulcanizing, recapping and battery charging; proprietors or operators of furniture
shops and establishments for planning or surfacing and recutting of lumber, and
sawmills under contract to saw or cut logs belonging to others; proprietors or
operators of dry- cleaning or dyeing establishments, steam laundries, and
laundries using washing machines; proprietors or owners of shops for the repair
of any kind of mechanical and electrical devices, instruments, apparatus, or
furniture and shoe repairing by machine or any mechanical contrivance;
proprietors or operators of establishments or lots for parking purposes; proprietors
or operators of tailor shops, dress shops, milliners and hatters, beauty parlors,
barbershops, massage clinics, sauna, Turkish and Swedish baths, slenderizing
and building saloons and similar establishments; photographic studios; funeral
parlors; proprietors or operators of hotels, motels, and lodging houses; proprietors
or operators of arrastre and stevedoring, warehousing, or forwarding
establishments; master plumbers, smiths, and house or sign painters; printers,
bookbinders, lithographers; publishers except those engaged in the publication or
printing of any newspaper, magazine, review or bulletin which appears at regular
intervals with fixed prices for subscription and sale and which is not devoted
principally to the publication of advertisements; business agents, private detective
or watchman agencies, commercial and immigration brokers, and
cinematographic film owners, lessors and distributors.

i) Corporation includes partnerships, no matter how created or organized, joint-

stock companies, joint accounts (cuentas en participacion), associations or
insurance companies but does not include general professional partnerships and
a joint venture or consortium formed for the purpose of undertaking construction
projects or engaging in petroleum, coal, geothermal, and other energy operations
pursuant to an operating or consortium agreement under a service contract with
the government. General professional partnerships are partnerships formed by
persons for the sole purpose of exercising their common profession, no part of the
income of which is derived from engaging in any trade or business. The term
"resident foreign" when applied to a corporation means a foreign corporation not
otherwise organized under the laws of the Philippines but engaged in trade or
business within the Philippines;

j) Countryside and Barangay Business Enterprise refers to any business entity,

association, or cooperative registered under the provisions of Republic Act
Numbered Sixty-eight hundred ten (R.A. No. 6810), otherwise known as "Magna
Carta for Countryside and Barangay Business Enterprises (Kalakalan 20)";

k) Dealer means one whose business is to buy and sell merchandise, goods, and
chattels as a merchant. He stands immediately between the producer or
manufacturer and the consumer and depends for his profit not upon the labor he
bestows upon his commodities but upon the skill and foresight with which he
watches the market;

l) Fee means a charge fixed by law or ordinance for the regulation or inspection of a
business or activity;

m) Franchise is a right or privilege, affected with public interest which is conferred

upon private persons or corporations, under such terms and conditions as the
government and its political subdivisions may impose in the interest of public
welfare, security, and safety;

n) Gross Sales or Receipts include the total amount of money or its equivalent
representing the contract price, compensation, or service fee, including the
amount charged or materials supplied with the services and deposits or advance
payments actually or constructively received during the taxable quarter for the
services performed or to be performed for another person excluding discounts if
determinable at the time of sales, sales return, excise tax, and value-added tax
(VAT);

o) Manufacturer includes every person who, by physical or chemical process, alters

the exterior texture or form or inner substance of any raw material or
manufactured or partially manufactured product in such manner as to prepare it
for special use or uses to which it could not have been put in its original condition,

LAWS – DEFINITION OF TERMS - SRI

 or who by any such process alters the quality of any such raw material or
manufactured or partially manufactured products so as to reduce it to marketable
shape or prepare it for any of the use of industry, or who by any such process
combines any such raw material or manufactured or partially manufactured
products with other materials or products of the same or of different kinds and in
such manner that the finished products of such process or manufacture can be
put to a special use or uses to which such raw material or manufactured or
partially manufactured products in their original condition could not have been put,
and who in addition alters such raw material or manufactured or partially
manufactured products, or combines the same to produce such finished products
for the purpose of their sale or distribution to others and not for his own use or
consumption;

p) Marginal Farmer or Fisherman refers to an individual engaged in subsistence

farming or fishing which shall be limited to the sale, barter or exchange of
agricultural or marine products produced by himself and his immediate family;

q) Motor Vehicle means any vehicle propelled by any power other than muscular
power using the public roads, but excluding road rollers, trolley cars, street-
sweepers, sprinklers, lawn mowers, bulldozers, graders, fork-lifts, amphibian
trucks, and cranes if not used on public roads, vehicles which run only on rails or
tracks, and tractors, trailers, and traction engines of all kinds used exclusively for
agricultural purposes;

r) Municipal Waters includes not only streams, lakes, and tidal waters within the
municipality, not being the subject of private ownership and not comprised within
the national parks, public forest, timber lands, forest reserves or fishery reserves,
but also marine waters included between two lines drawn perpendicularly to the
general coastline from points where the boundary lines of the municipality or city
touch the sea at low tide and a third line parallel with the general coastline and
fifteen (15) kilometers from it. Where two (2) municipalities are so situated on the
opposite shores that there is less than fifteen (15) kilometers of marine waters
between them, the third line shall be equally distant from opposite shores of the
respective municipalities;

s) Operator includes the owner, manager, administrator, or any other person who
operates or is responsible for the operation of a business establishment or
undertaking;

t) Peddler means any person who, either for himself or on commission, travels from
place to place and sells his goods or offers to sell and deliver the same. Whether
a peddler is a wholesale peddler or a retail peddler of a particular commodity shall
be determined from the definition of wholesale dealer or retail dealer as provided
in this Title;

u) Persons means every natural or juridical being, susceptible of rights and

obligations or of being the subject of legal relations;

v) Residents refer to natural persons who have their habitual residence in the
province, city, or municipality where they exercise their civil rights and fulfill their
civil obligations, and to juridical persons for which the law or any other provision
creating or recognizing them fixes their residence in a particular province, city, or
municipality. In the absence of such law, juridical persons are residents of the
province, city, or municipality where they have their legal residence or principal
place of business or where they conduct their principal business or occupation;

w) Retail means a sale where the purchaser buys the commodity for his own
consumption, irrespective of the quantity of the commodity sold; (x) "Vessel"
includes every type of boat, craft, or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of
being used, as a means of transportation on water;

x) Wharfage means a fee assessed against the cargo of a vessel engaged in

foreign or domestic trade based on quantity, weight, or measure received and/or
discharged by vessel; and

y) Wholesale means a sale where the purchaser buys or imports the commodities
for resale to persons other than the end user regardless of the quantity of the
transaction.

RA 9646
a) Appraiser also known as valuer, refers to a person who conducts
valuation/appraisal; specifically, one who possesses the necessary qualifications,
license, ability, and experience to execute or direct the valuation/appraisal of real
property.

b) Assessor refers to an official in the local government unit, who performs

appraisal and assessment of real properties, including plants, equipment, and
machineries, essentially for taxation purposes. This definition also includes
assistant assessors.

c) Real estate refers to the land and all those items which are attached to the land.
It is the physical, tangible entity, together with all the additions or improvements
on, above or below the ground.

d) Real estate development project means the development of land for residential,
commercial, industrial, agricultural, institutional, or recreational purposes, or any
combination of such including, but not limited to, tourist resorts, reclamation
projects, building or housing projects, whether for individual or condominium
ownership, memorial parks, and others of similar nature.

e) Real estate developer refers to any natural or juridical person engaged in the
business of developing real estate development project for his/her or its own
account and offering them for sale or lease.

f) Real property includes all the rights, interests and benefits related to the
ownership of real estate.

g) Real estate service practitioners shall refer to and consist of the following:

1) Real estate consultant - a duly registered and licensed -natural person

who, for a professional fee, compensation, or other valuable
consideration, offers or renders professional advice and judgment on: (i)
the acquisition, enhancement, preservation, utilization or disposition of

LAWS – DEFINITION OF TERMS - SRI

 lands or improvements thereon; and (ii) the conception, planning,
management, and development of real estate projects.

2) Real estate appraiser— a duly registered and licensed natural person

who, for a professional fee, compensation, or other valuable
consideration, performs or renders, or offers to perform services in
estimating and arriving at an opinion of or acts as an expert on real estate
values, such services of which shall be finally rendered by the
preparation of the report in acceptable written form.

3) Real estate assessor — a duly registered and licensed natural person

who works in a local government unit and performs appraisal and
assessment of real properties, including plants, equipment, and
machineries, essentially for taxation purposes.

4) Real estate broker - a duly registered and licensed natural person who,
for a professional fee, commission, or other valuable consideration, acts
as an agent of a party in a real estate transaction to offer, advertise,
solicit, list, promote, mediate, negotiate or effect the meeting of the minds
on the sale, purchase, exchange, mortgage, lease or joint venture, or
other similar transactions on real estate or any interest therein.

5) Real estate salesperson - a duly accredited natural person who

performs service for, and in behalf of. a real estate broker who is
registered and licensed by the Professional Regulatory Board of Real
Estate Service for or in expectation of a share in the commission,
professional fee, compensation, or other valuable consideration.

LAWS – DEFINITION OF TERMS - SRI