ILOILO CITY — This city has approved a landmark ordinance establishing a mandatory 100-meter coastal greenbelt zone and imposing a total ban on coastal reclamation projects, marking one of the city’s most sweeping environmental protection measures aimed at strengthening climate resilience and preserving its remaining mangrove forests.
The Coastal Greenbelt Zone (CGZ) ordinance, authored by Councilor Romel Duron, establishes a 100-meter “no-build” buffer zone across the city’s 32 coastal barangay and designates approximately 110 hectares of mangrove forests as protected coastal greenbelts.
Under the ordinance, the CGZ extends at least 100 meters inland from the mean high-water mark.
The zone is intended to serve as a natural barrier against storm surges, coastal erosion, sea-level rise, and other climate-related hazards while protecting biodiversity and sustaining fisheries.
“In recognition of the importance of mangroves and coastal forests to coastal resilience and livelihoods, it is important to optimize the protection of one of the key management zones - Mangrove Forest Conservation Zone - and set these aside as CGZ for effective enforcement, incentive, and monitoring mechanisms,” the ordinance read.
Duron emphasized that establishing the mangrove areas as CGZ will ensure that they are protected and rehabilitated towards improved productivity, biodiversity, and full potential as coastal defenses against the adverse impacts of extreme weather conditions brought about by climate change.
No-build zone
One of the ordinance’s key provisions prohibits the construction of any permanent or temporary human-made structure within the designated CGZ.
This protective strip is composed of approximately 110 hectares of mangrove forests situated in Barangay Bito-on, Balabago, and Hinactacan, as well as other similar mangrove-dense areas throughout Iloilo City.
Meanwhile, the mandatory 100-meter inland buffer zone applies to all thirty-two coastal barangay of Iloilo City, specifically featuring dedicated forest mangrove ecosystems within the designated areas of Hinactacan, Balabago, Bito-on, and the Molo Boulevard coastlines.
Any structure built in violation of the ordinance will be declared a public nuisance per se and will be subject to immediate summary demolition at the expense of the owner or developer.
Total reclamation ban
The ordinance also imposes a blanket prohibition on all forms of coastal reclamation within the CGZ and its immediate marine frontiers.
It bans the dumping of filling materials and any form of artificial land expansion within protected coastal areas.
The measure explicitly stated that no city government office or outside entity may propose, endorse, or implement reclamation projects within the protected zones.
The conversion of mangrove forests into fishponds or reclamation sites is likewise prohibited.
“Mangroves are still under serious threat and are being cleared at an alarming rate, despite the ecosystem services they provide. The loss of mangroves due to coastal development projects like land reclamation, deforestation for fuel, and aquaculture accounts for about half of the total loss of mangroves in the country,” the ordinance said.
Management and enforcement
To implement the measure, the ordinance creates a CGZ Committee, chaired by the city mayor, which will oversee the preparation and implementation of a Local Coastal Greenbelt Management Action Plan.
The committee will be responsible for conducting inventories of coastlines and mangrove areas, implementing rehabilitation and reforestation programs, integrating coastal greenbelt management into the city’s development plans, removing illegal structures, and monitoring compliance.
The city government will also install marine boundary buoys and onshore monuments to clearly mark the landward and seaward limits of the protected greenbelt.
The ordinance allocates P5 million annually from the city’s budget to fund enforcement, education, monitoring, capacity-building, and other implementation activities.
Allowed, banned activities
While the ordinance restricts development, it allows registered artisanal fishermen and gleaners to continue limited fishing activities using only non-destructive methods.
Permitted fishing gear includes fish and crab traps, hook and line, spears, crab lifts, and shell gathering that does not damage mangrove roots.
Prohibited activities include cutting or pruning mangroves without authorization, collecting mangrove propagules and seedlings, dumping solid waste, gathering firewood, converting mangroves into fishponds, and destructive fishing methods such as dynamite, cyanide, and fine-mesh nets.
Individuals violating the ordinance face a P2,500 fine per offense or imprisonment of one to two months.
Commercial establishments may be fined P4,000, while responsible officers may face imprisonment of up to six months and cancellation of their business permits.
Encroached mangrove areas
The ordinance was created after an investigation by the City Council, led by Duron, discovered allegedly fictitious homestead patents covering at least 50 hectares of mangrove and coastal areas in Barangays Bito-on, Hinactacan, and Balabago.
The investigation found that the patent numbers matched records from other provinces — including Davao del Norte, Misamis Oriental, and Negros Occidental — rather than Iloilo.
Duron said the findings point to possible irregularities in the issuance of the titles over what the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the City Council believe are protected mangrove forests.
Aside from this, the City Council also discovered two 25-year fishpond lease agreements covering more than 60 hectares in Jaro after allegations that the sites overlap with or are adjacent to protected mangrove forests.
The leases, approved by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in January 2025 in favor of Jeco Agri Aqua and Land Ventures, surfaced during the council’s investigation into the three allegedly fictitious homestead patents.
RJAY ZURIAGA CASTOR