Yamsuan to Senate: Pass national land use law, help curb floods

MANILA, Philippines — A national land use law should be passed by Congress and eventually enacted into law, as it can solve the country’s perennial flooding problem, Parañaque Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan said on Thursday.

In a statement, Yamsuan called on fellow lawmakers from the Senate to swiftly pass a “long-pending measure” as he believes a unified, science-based framework is needed in terms of addressing floods—instead of merely localized measures.

The House of Representatives has approved House Bill (HB) No. 8466, or the proposed National Land Use Act—a priority bill of the current administration—last May 5, 2026. However, its counterpart version is still pending before the Senate.

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“Localized solutions won’t fix flooding in the long run because flooding is not merely a drainage problem. It is a land-use, infrastructure, and environmental planning problem,” Yamsuan, a former assistant secretary at the Department of the Interior and Local Government, said.

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“A National Land Use Act is the critical, missing factor in providing lasting solutions to the recurring floods that our countrymen have long endured for decades,” he added.

READ: Dy: Land use bill a long-overdue blueprint for sustainable growth

Yamsuan explained that if there is a national land use law, it would harmonize the country’s fragmented local development planning with the national framework, which means that development in high-risk and protected areas will be disallowed.

Over the years, there have been concerns that urban development in areas meant to absorb rainwater during the monsoon season has led to flooding over low-lying areas.

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“A National Land Use Act will give the government more teeth in enforcing land use regulations and guide us where we should build so we avoid putting homes, businesses and infrastructure in high-risk areas,” Yamsuan said.

“One localized project may solve flooding in one community but transfers the problem to another area. Kung may national land use policy tayo, magkakaroon ng kaayusan at malawakang pagpaplano para matulungang maresolba ang problema natin sa pagbaha,” he added.

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(If we have a national land use policy in place, there will be order and a comprehensive planning to help solve our problem with floods.)

HB No. 8466 seeks to end the absence of a national land use policy, which will facilitate the setting of a long-term framework for managing the country’s land and natural resources.

A total of 224 lawmakers voted in favor of the bill, with only three voting against it.

“This is one of those bills that people may not talk about every day, but they will feel it when farms are protected, homes are built in safer places, roads are planned better, and communities are spared from avoidable disasters,” Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander Marcos said in a statement after the vote.

READ: House OKs land use act on 3rd reading

If HB No. 8466 is signed into law, there will be a national land use body that will oversee the country’s transition to a unified policy under a 30-year plan, which will be updated every decade.

Under the bill, land use is classified into four categories, including lots meant for protection and conservation, for production, housing and settlement, and public works.

The illegal conversion of agricultural lands into residential, commercial or industrial lots without clearance will carry penalties of up to P100,000, imprisonment of as long as 12 years, or both.

But Yamsuan said the bill also has measures against floods, like the integration of climate and disaster risk planning by requiring the use of hazard maps, geospatial data and environmental assessments in deciding how land should be used, especially in flood plains, critical watersheds, coastal zones and other hazard-prone areas.

Initiatives such as Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards) will play a key role in providing information on this aspect of land use zoning and planning, according to Yamsuan.

Furthermore, the lawmaker proposed a three-pronged comprehensive study focusing on the behavioral, environmental, and historical (BEH) background of communities prone to flooding.

“We need BEH. B or Behavioral background to study population growth, settlement patterns and waste disposal patterns. E for Environmental will show us where water comes from, where it collects, and what blocks or takes it long to flow. H, which is the historical aspect, is to find out the community’s original state,” Yamsuan explained.

For instance, his home city of Parañaque has historically been an “asinan” or salt farm with naturally low-lying areas and soil conditions different from other parts of Metro Manila, he said.

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“We should identify areas where working with water instead of against it offers the best solutions to the flooding problem,” Yamsuan said. /cb