WHEREAS, under Executive Order No. 192, dated June 10, 1987, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is mandated as the sole agency responsible for the conservation, management, development, and proper use of the country ™s natural resources within forest lands, including watershed reservations;

WHEREAS, under Executive Order No. 224, dated July 16, 1987, the National Power Corporation was vested the complete jurisdiction, control and regulation of certain watershed areas and reservations surrounding its power generating plants, among which is the Angat Watershed Reservation under Proclamations Nos. 505 and 599;

WHEREAS, watershed areas are critical and essential not only to the life-span of hydroelectric dams and other water-oriented projects of the government but also to its flood control and other environmental and ecological programs;

WHEREAS, the Angat Watershed Reservation is a very important and vital watershed, considering that it irrigates about twenty (20) municipalities in the Provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga, not to mention its power generating capacity in Luzon and as the source of seventy-five (75%) per cent of the water supply of the entire Metro Manila;

WHEREAS, the Angat Watershed Reservation needs effective protection, management, and development in order to sustain its capacity for power generations, water supply, and irrigation and further enhance its watershed functions;

WHEREAS, considering its mandate, objectives, and resources, the DENR is in the best position to implement the policies, plans and programs on the protection, management, rehabilitation, and development, of watersheds, such as the Angat Watershed Reservation;

WHEREAS, there is an urgent need to provide a holistic approach for the sustainable management and development of the whole Angat Watershed Reservation.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order the following:

SECTION 1. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources shall have jurisdiction, control, management, and development of the Angat Watershed Reservation. For this purpose, the Department shall submit to the Office of the President a comprehensive management and development plan within ninety (90) days from the date hereof.

SEC. 2. All development and/or improvement activities of existing water-based facilities within the Angat Watershed Reservation of the National Power Corporation, which have been programmed for immediate implementation, shall be in close consultation and collaboration with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

SEC. 3. The commercial utilization of timber within the Reservation shall not be allowed, except for research and other silvicultural practices, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources.

SEC. 4. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the National Power Corporation shall undertake the necessary arrangements for the immediate and orderly turnover of responsibilities over the reservation.

SEC. 5. For purposes of this Order, an initial allocation of One Million Pesos (P1,000,000.00) is hereby set aside out of the unallocated funds of the National Government, in addition to whatever appropriation the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the National Power Corporation may contribute to this undertaking.

SEC. 6. The provisions of existing orders, policies, rules and regulations, which are inconsistent herewith, are hereby repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.

SEC. 7. This Order shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 25th day of February, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and ninety four.

(Sgd.) FIDEL V. RAMOS
President of the Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.) TEOFISTO T. GUINGONA, JR.
Executive Secretary