Press Release
July 28, 2011

To avoid border disputes
ANGARA CALLS FOR ACCURATE POLITICAL BOUNDARIES SURVEY

Senator Edgardo J. Angara, chair of the Congressional Commission on Science and Technology and Engineering (COMSTE), urged the country's geodetic engineers to help the government determine clear geographical boundaries of cities and municipalities in order to avoid political boundary disputes.

Determining political boundaries of local government units (LGU's) used to be within the ambit of the now-defunct Bureau of Lands, which later became Land Management Bureau under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

When the Local Government Code was enacted in the 1991, surveying of boundaries became the responsibilities of LGU's as their share in the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) is determined based on their geographical territory.

Angara said that delegating the surveying to LGU's gives rise to conflict and boundary disputes among provinces, cities and municipalities.

Speaking before the Geodetic Engineers' Development Foundation Inc., he urged them to initiate a science-based research and survey that will accurately delineate boundaries between municipalities and their corresponding land area to determine the appropriate IRA.

"There are tools and processes available through geodetic survey that can precisely define political boundaries. Though this has a lot of political implications, it should not be a largely political exercise. We can avoid potential conflict by utilizing evidence-based processes. Our political leaders only need to set aside their own interests for the greater national interest at stake," said Angara.

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