Sierra Madre Conservation Authority Act

Senate Office of the Secretary TWENTIETH CONGRESS OF THE 25 NOV 27 P4:51 REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES First Regular Session RECEIVED BY: SENATE Senate Bill No. 1561 Introduced by Senator Erwin T. Tulfo AN ACT DECLARING THE ENTIRE SIERRA MADRE MOUNTAIN RANGE AS A STRICT PROTECTION ZONE, STRENGTHENING ITS CONSERVATION THROUGH THE CREATION OF THE SIERRA MADRE CONSERVATION AUTHORITY, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR EXPLANATORY NOTE The Sierra Madre is the longest mountain range in the Philippines. It has a land area of approximately 1.4 million hectares, which spans the Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and CALABARZON regions, specifically spanning 10 provinces.' For Filipinos, the Sierra Madre mountain range is known to play a key role in safeguarding Luzon against strong typhoons. Beyond disaster mitigation, the Sierra Madre plays a vital role in water regulation, climate stability, and biodiversity conservation. It hosts around 40 percent of the country's remaining forest cover and is home to approximately 3,500 plant species, 58 percent of which are endemic.? Numerous threatened and critically endangered wildlife 'Forest Foundation, "Sierra Madre Mountain Range: Backbone of Luzon", retrieved from: https://www.forestfoundation.ph/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Sierra-Madre-Mountain-Range_Landscape- Profile.pdf, retrieved on November 22. 2025 • Climate Change Commission "Sierra Madre: Mountain Range for Resilience", retrieved from: https://climate.gov.ph/news/934, retrieved on November 22, 2025.

species, including the Philippine Eagle, depend on the Sierra Madre's intact habitats for survival. It also functions as a major carbon sink, storing vast amounts of carbon that contribute to climate change mitigation. Despite its immense ecological and protective value, the Sierra Madre Mountain Range is still threatened by deforestation, mining, quarrying, land conversion, and unregulated development. Gaps in current protected areas leave parts of the mountain range without enough legal protection, allowing people to encroach on sensitive ecosystems. This bill seeks to address these long-standing gaps by declaring the entire Sierra Madre Mountain Range as a Strict Protection Zone, where commercial extraction and destructive activities are prohibited, while allowing only scientific research, the subsistence use and occupancy of Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs) consistent with the Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act (IPRA), and small-scale and traditional fishing activities conducted by local communities and ICCs/IPs. To ensure unified and effective management, the bill creates the Sierra Madre Conservation Authority (SMCA) as the primary implementing and coordinating body, supported by regional satellite offices. It also establishes the Sierra Madre Conservation Council to formulate a long-term conservation plan and provide policy direction. Given the increasing intensity of natural disasters, the accelerating impacts of climate change, and the continuing threats of environmental degradation, the passage of this measure is not only timely but imperative. ERWIN T. TULFO

Senate Office of the secretary TWENTIETH CONGRESS OF THE NOV 27 P4:51 REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) First Regular Session RECEIVED BY: SENATE Senate Bill No. 1561 Introduced by Senator Erwin T. Tulfo AN ACT DECLARING THE ENTIRE SIERRA MADRE MOUNTAIN RANGE AS A STRICT PROTECTION ZONE, STRENGTHENING ITS CONSERVATION THROUGH THE CREATION OF THE SIERRA MADRE CONSERVATION AUTHORITY, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Sierra

Madre Conservation Authority Act".

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is hereby declared the policy

of the State to protect the right of every Filipino to a balanced and healthful ecology. In recognition of the rich and unique biological resources and the ecological importance found in the Sierra Madre Mountain Range (SMMR) spanning the Provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Nueva Ecija, Aurora, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and Quezon, the State shall ensure the preservation, sustainable management, and rehabilitation of its forests, watersheds, and critical habitats.

The State further recognizes the SMMR as a vital natural barrier 2 against climate impacts and disasters, and shall safeguard its 3 ecosystems to ensure long-term environmental stability and community resilience.

SEC. 3. Strict Protection Zone. - The entire SMMR is hereby

7 declared a Strict Protection Zone. As such, it shall be closed to all forms 8 of human activity, occupation, or resource extraction, and commercial activities, except for scientific and academic research duly authorized 10 by the Sierra Madre Conservation Authority, subsistence use and 11 occupancy by Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs) within their recognized ancestral domains in accordance with the Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act (IPRA), and small-scale and traditional fishing activities conducted by local communities and ICCs/IPs.

SEC. 4. Sierra Madre Conservation Authority. - The Sierra

Madre Conservation Authority (SMCA) is hereby created which shall be headed by an Executive Director, and a Deputy Executive Director with proven competence in environmental management. It shall be mandated to execute the powers and functions as provided under

Section 6 of this Act.

SEC. 5. Jurisdiction. - The Authority shall have jurisdiction over

the conservation, protection, and rehabilitation of the entire SMMR including but not limited to all declared protected areas within the mountain range which spans the Provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Nueva Ecija, Aurora, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and Quezon, as determined by the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) .

SEC. 6. Powers and functions of the SMCA. - The SMCA shall

have the following powers and functions: 1. Oversee the conservation, protection, and rehabilitation of the SMMR;

2. Deputize, through the regional satellite offices, forest rangers and patrollers for the enforcement of the laws, rules and regulations governing conduct within the SMMR; 3. Call upon the support of any department, bureau, and office of the executive branch to assist in the discharge of the Authority's function; 4. Act as central administrative and coordinating body of the national government agencies and local government units (LGUs); 5. Review all the existing contracts and tenurial agreements entered before the effectivity of this Act; 6. Control and supervise the regional satellite offices; 7. Issue rules and regulations for the resolution of conflicts through appropriate and effective means; 8. Allocate financial resources for the implementation of the conservation plan; and 9. Submit an annual report to the President of the Republic of the Philippines and to Congress on the status of the SMMR.

SEC. 7. Regional Satellite Offices. - To ensure the effective

implementation of the Sierra Madre Conservation Plan, the Authority shall establish the following regional satellite offices: a. The Northern Sierra Madre Office shall cover the provinces of Region II, namely, Isabela, Cagayan, Quirino, and Nueva Vizcaya. b. The Central Sierra Madre Office shall cover the provinces of Region III, namely, Nueva Ecija, Aurora, and Bulacan c. The Southern Sierra Madre Office shall cover the provinces of Region IV-A, namely, Quezon, Laguna, and Rizal. The regional satellite offices shall be responsible for regulating all allowable activities and monitoring compliance with this Act within their respective jurisdictions. Each regional satellite office shall be headed by the respective Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Regional Executive Director.

Forest Rangers and Patrollers, who serve as frontline personnel responsible for monitoring forestlands and the bodies within and surrounding SMMR, enforcing forestry laws, preventing illegal activities in SMMR, shall be deployed by the regional satellite offices.

SEC. 8. Sierra Madre Conservation Council. - There is hereby

7 created a Sierra Madre Conservation Council, herein referred to as the 8 Council, which shall serve as the policy-making body of the SMCA. It 9 shall have the authority to formulate the Sierra Madre Mountain Range 10 Conservation Plan. The Council shall be composed of: 1. The DENR Secretary as the Chairperson; 2. The Executive Director of the SMCA as the Vice Chairperson; 3. The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary as a member; 4. One (1) representative from the ICCs/IPs as member; and 5. One (1) representative from an environmental NGO as member; The chairperson and members of the Council shall be entitled to allowance and per diems in accordance with existing relevant laws, rules and regulations.

SEC. 9. Sierra Madre Mountain Range Conservation Plan. - In

order to achieve the objectives of this Act, there shall be a Conservation Plan which shall provide a twenty (20)-year long-term framework on the conservation, protection, and rehabilitation of the SMMR.

SEC. 10. Penalties. - Any person or corporation who undertakes

any form of human activity, occupation, or resource extraction, and commercial activities in the SMMR which does not fall under the exceptions provided in this Act shall be punishable by imprisonment of six (6) years and one (1) day to twelve (12) years, and a fine not less

1 than Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (P500,000) but not more than Five Million Pesos (P5,000,000).

SEC. 11. Liability under Other Laws. - A prosecution under this

5 Act shall be without prejudice to any liability for violation of any provision of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, or special laws.

SEC. 12. Appropriations. - The amount necessary to effectively

carry out the provisions of this Act shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SEC. 13. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within ninety

(90) days from the effectivity of this Act, the SMMRCA in coordination with the DENR, NAMRIA, DOJ, DILG and other shall issue the concerned national government agencies, corresponding rules and regulations for the effective implementation of this Act.

SEC. 14. Transitory Provision. - Within ninety (90) days from

the effectivity of this Act, all existing offices, personnel, assets, records, and functions of the concerned DENR regional offices relating to the conservation and protection of the SMMR shall be transferred to the SMCA. Ongoing projects and valid contracts shall continue only to complete their originally approved work, and shall not be extended or renewed.

SEC. 15. Separability Clause. - Should any provision or part of

this Act be declared unconstitutional or invalid, the other provisions and parts hereof, insofar as they are separable from the invalid ones, shall remain in full force and effect.

SEC. 16. Repealing Cause. - All laws, decrees, letters of

instruction, executive orders, rules and regulations and other issuances or parts thereof inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 17. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days

2 after its complete publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper 3 of general circulation. Approved,