A Shoreline for the Future

For 59 years, a stretch of Iloilo City’s coastline has lived a double life. On paper, under Republic Act No. 4767 enacted in 1966, the shoreline areas of Molo and Arevalo were designated as the “Iloilo City Park.” In reality, these areas have become something entirely different: bustling communities, home to generations of families and the site of numerous small businesses. They are living, breathing neighborhoods, not the manicured parkland envisioned by lawmakers half a century ago.

House Bill No. 4298, filed by Iloilo City Representative Julienne Baronda, attempts to be a pragmatic and a long-overdue attempt to resolve this legal fiction. The bill’s proposal to repeal the old law and reclassify these lands as “alienable and disposable” is not an act of destroying a park; it is an act of recognizing reality. It is a common-sense solution that offers to grant legal security to thousands of Ilonggos who have invested their lives and labor into lands they could never formally own. As the bill’s explanatory note rightly states, “it is both practical and equitable to revisit this outdated designation.”

To deny this reality is to condemn these communities to a state of perpetual uncertainty. By allowing “actual occupants in good faith” to apply for titles under existing laws like the Public Land Act, the bill provides a pathway to empowerment. A land title transforms a house into an asset, providing families with collateral for loans, a secure inheritance for their children, and the dignity of full ownership. Furthermore, it brings these properties onto the city’s tax rolls, generating new revenues that, as Rep. Baronda notes, can fund public infrastructure and social services. This is progress.

However, while we commend this pragmatic step, we must proceed with our eyes wide open. Pragmatism must not blind us to the long-term consequences of our decisions. The moment these public lands are privatized, they are, for all intents and purposes, lost to the public domain forever.

This is a critical consideration for a city experiencing what the bill calls “sustained socio-economic growth and rapid urban expansion.” A growing city needs more, not less, public space. Green areas, coastal easements, and public access points to the shore are not luxuries; they are vital for the environmental health and quality of life of all citizens. Are we willing to trade the potential for future public parks and coastal resilience projects for the immediate and tangible benefits of new tax revenues? The question must be asked, as this decision will set a precedent for how we value and manage our shared public spaces for generations to come.

This is why House Bill 4298 cannot be viewed in a vacuum. Its passage must be accompanied by a clear, comprehensive, and forward-looking master plan for Iloilo City’s entire shoreline. Formalizing ownership is crucial, but it is only one piece of a much larger puzzle. What is the city’s strategy for coastal protection against sea-level rise? How will it guarantee that public access to the shoreline is not completely walled off by private development? This reclassification must be integrated into a larger vision that balances private property rights with the public’s undeniable right to a sustainable and accessible environment.

Finally, a law is only as good as its implementation. The success of this initiative hinges on the integrity and efficiency of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and its partner agencies. Section 3 of the bill tasks the DENR with conducting the necessary cadastral surveys to determine the land’s boundaries. Section 4 gives priority to actual occupants in “good faith.” These provisions are the heart of the law, but they are also its most vulnerable points.

The process must be transparent, fair, and shielded from exploitation. Defining and verifying who qualifies as an “occupant in good faith” will be a monumental task, fraught with the potential for disputes, fraud, and opportunism. The challenge now shifts from Congress to the executive agencies. They must ensure that the law benefits the long-term residents it was designed to help, not opportunistic speculators.

House Bill 4298 is a necessary correction whose time has come. It promises justice for residents and progress for the city. Let us support it, but let us also demand that it be executed within a framework of responsible urban planning and scrupulous governance. Let us turn a paper park into empowered communities, ensuring that in solving a problem of the past, we build a better, more resilient shoreline for the future.