agriculture – Real LexEcon

Today, Gus Agosto, a licensed Environmental Planner, sent his formal reply to the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), signaling a continuing exchange on the review of the Cebu City Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) 2023–2032.

The exchange brings into focus a critical issue in Philippine land use planning: the alignment of existing planning practices with Republic Act No. 11995, or the Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System (PENCAS) Act.

Gus Agosto, a former ADB Consultant, stressed that “the law is already in force.” Consequently, its requirements—especially the integration of environmental and natural capital considerations into planning and decision-making—are neither prospective nor optional, but are binding elements of the existing legal framework governing land use.

While the Department has emphasized the need for technical readiness, including the development of standardized datasets and frameworks, it is important to underscore that institutional readiness does not suspend legal obligation. A clear distinction must be made between full technical implementation and minimum compliance. Even at present, there are sufficient tools—such as hazard mapping, watershed delineation, and environmental constraints analysis—to begin integrating ecological limits into planning decisions.

Deferring integration to the “next CLUP cycle,” which may span nearly a decade, risks allowing land use decisions to proceed under frameworks that do not reflect current legal and environmental realities. In a region like Cebu, which continues to face recurring disasters and environmental stress, such delay raises serious concerns about the adequacy of planning safeguards.

Recent events—including the Binaliw dumpsite collapse in January 2026 and the widespread devastation caused by Typhoon Tino in 2025—underscore the real-world consequences of land use decisions that fail to fully account for environmental risks. These incidents highlight the urgency of ensuring that planning frameworks evolve in step with both law and lived experience.

“The issue is not whether we can fully implement PENCAS today, but whether we can justify continuing to approve land use decisions that ignore a law already in force. We already know where the risks are. The responsibility now is to ensure that planning decisions reflect that reality—before the next disaster forces the correction.” Consultant Agosto said.

The objective is not to disrupt planning processes, but to strengthen them. A transitional approach—where PENCAS principles are integrated to the extent practicable while full systems are being developed—offers a balanced and legally sound path forward.

The question is not whether we are ready to implement the law, but whether we can afford not to.

Following is my letter reply to the DHSUD:

HON. ATTY. RAMON QUINTIN CLAUDIO C. ALLADO
Undersecretary
Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD)
Kalayaan Avenue, Diliman
Quezon City

CC : DIRECTOR, LEGAL SERVICE

Re: Response to DHSUD Letter dated 16 February 2026
On the Review and Implementation of the Cebu City CLUP 2023–2032

Dear Undersecretary Allado:

I acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 16 February 2026 concerning the review and implementation of the Cebu City Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) 2023–2032 in relation to the Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System Act (PENCAS, Republic Act No. 11995).

While I appreciate the Department’s recognition of natural capital accounting’s role in land use planning, I respectfully register strong reservations regarding the proposal to defer its integration until complete frameworks, datasets, and guidelines are issued—or to limit it to the next CLUP cycle.

1. Immediate Binding Effect of the PENCAS Act

Republic Act No. 11995 is in full force and binds all government agencies, including DHSUD, in their administrative functions. The absence of complete technical frameworks or datasets does not suspend this obligation; administrative convenience cannot supersede a statutory mandate.

2. CLUP Approval as a Continuing Administrative Act

CLUP review and approval constitute an ongoing administrative function that must align with laws in effect at the time of the decision. Approving a CLUP without incorporating PENCAS requirements undermines its substantive legal validity, irrespective of procedural compliance.

3. Impropriety of Deferral to the Next Cycle

Deferring the integration of PENCAS to the “next cycle”—effectively a decade from the current 2023–2032 planning horizon, especially in a context marked by historical delays in plan updating—is untenable in the face of recurring and intensifying disasters in Cebu. Recent events, including the January 2026 Binaliw dumpsite collapse that claimed 36 lives, and Typhoon Tino (2025), which left at least 158 fatalities, dozens missing, and thousands injured across Compostela, Liloan, Balamban, Danao City, and Cebu City, underscore the grave consequences of inadequate land use planning.

These incidents are not isolated occurrences, but manifestations of systemic vulnerabilities—many of which may be linked to outdated or insufficiently responsive planning frameworks. In this light, a policy of deferring compliance with the PENCAS Act risks perpetuating land use decisions that fail to reflect environmental constraints and hazard realities. This, in turn, increases foreseeable risk and undermines the duty of planning authorities to align land use regulation with existing legal mandates and evolving environmental conditions.

4. Distinction Between Full Implementation and Minimum Compliance

Full technical implementation may await standardized systems, but minimum transitional compliance is feasible now using available tools like hazard mapping, watershed delineation, and environmental constraints analysis. Ecological limits can thus inform planning without full PENCAS operationalization.

5. Request for Clarification

In view of the above, I respectfully seek clarification on:

i. Whether DHSUD plans to approve CLUPs omitting PENCAS requirements;

ii. Whether interim or minimum compliance measures apply to LGUs pending full PENCAS rollout; and

iii. Whether the Department contemplates transitional guidelines to align current planning with legal mandates.

6. Reservation of Rights

This letter is without prejudice to further actions to ensure land use planning complies with the law and addresses environmental and developmental imperatives.

7. Closing

My intent is not to hinder planning but to affirm that natural capital integration is now a legal imperative, not mere policy.

Thank you for your attention.

Respectfully yours,

Augusto B. Agosto, JD

Environmental Planner

When we talk about Carbon Market, the discussion too often centers on infrastructure — bricks, stalls, modernization, redevelopment. But to understand its true economic role, we have to move beyond the physical structure and look at the value chains that give it meaning. From an economist’s and urban planner’s perspective, Carbon Market is not simply a venue; it is a distribution hub, a transaction institution, and a key node where multiple food supply chains converge.

From Farms and Fisheries to City Plates

Academic research helps explain why this matters.

In the Central Philippines, vegetable supply chains are highly vulnerable to losses. Studies show that up to 30–40% of vegetable produce can be lost before it reaches consumers — losses that occur because of poor transport infrastructure, multiple intermediaries, inadequate cold storage, and fragmented market access. These inefficiencies translate into lost income for farmers and higher prices for consumers. (ResearchGate: “Supply chain losses of vegetables in Central Philippines”)

Separately, research into the fish trade in Cebu City highlights how the flow of seafood from producers to consumers is shaped by a complex web of traders, processors, auction markets, and retail outlets. The study illustrates that fish supply chains are highly relational: small fishers depend on buyers who bring their catch into the city, while consumers depend on urban markets to provide diversity, quality, and affordability. (ResearchGate: “The Dynamics of the Fish Trade in Cebu City”)

These findings are not abstract. They confirm something we see every day: food supply in cities like Cebu depends on efficient, accessible, and well-functioning distribution nodes. Carbon Market is one of the most important of these.

Carbon Market as an Institutional Hub

The UP CIDS study on inclusive agricultural value-chain models makes a central point: markets are not neutral transactional spaces. They are institutions — systems of practices, rules, norms, and networks that shape how producers, intermediaries, and consumers interact. When these institutions function well, they lower transaction costs, reduce uncertainties, and give small producers real access to buyers. When the institutions fail, producers are forced into exploitative arrangements, risk losses, and see declining returns on their labor and investment. (UP CIDS)

This institutional perspective helps us understand Carbon Market not just as a physical place, but as an enabling environment for exchange — a hub where logistics, finance, information, and relationships come together.

Why Changes to Carbon Market Disrupt Food Supply Chains

When the character of Carbon Market changes — whether through redevelopment, commercialization, privatization, or regulatory transformation — the effects are rarely neutral. Instead, they reshape the very value chains that feed the city.

Here’s how the available evidence explains this:

1. Supply Chain Losses Are Real and Costly
Vegetable supply chains in the Central Philippines already experience significant losses before produce ever reaches consumers. Any disruption to a major distribution node like Carbon Market — which serves as a point of aggregation and redistribution — will likely exacerbate these losses unless deliberate efficiency and preservation mechanisms are put in place. (ResearchGate: Vegetable losses study)

2. Fisheries Trade Relies on Complex Networks
Fish traders in Cebu City rely on established channels to bring catch from coastal producers into the urban market. Carbon Market participates in this web of relationships — sanctioning trust, pricing norms, and informal arrangements that help balance risk between fishers, buyers, and sellers. Disrupting these networks without substituting effective alternatives increases uncertainty and costs within the entire system. (ResearchGate: Fish trade dynamics)

3. Institutional Voids Hurt Small Actors
The UP CIDS research underscores that without strong market institutions — whether formal contracts or informal norms — small producers get squeezed by intermediaries who set terms, capture rents, and limit market access. When Carbon Market’s institutional role changes without careful planning, these “institutional voids” can widen, leaving small farmers and fishers worse off. (UP CIDS)

Who Bears the Costs?

The outcomes of institutional disruption are not distributed equally:

Smallholder farmers and fishers lose affordable access to markets and often face higher transaction costs.
Vendors and micro-processors face barriers from rising rents, increased compliance costs, or loss of informal financial arrangements.
Consumers — especially low- and middle-income households — face higher prices and reduced access to fresh produce and fish.

This is not speculative. The weight of evidence from multiple studies — in vegetables, fisheries, and institutional economics — shows that food distribution systems are sensitive. They can be improved, but only if redesign respects existing networks and preserves inclusivity.

What Responsible Planning Looks Like

If the goal is to modernize or upgrade Carbon Market — a goal many stakeholders share — it must be guided by principles that reflect its role in multiple value chains:

Maintain space for small producers. Institutional support — from vendor cooperatives to flexible credit arrangements — must remain part of the market’s design.
Invest in logistics and preservation. Cold storage, loading bays, and organized wholesale operations can help reduce supply chain losses.
Strengthen institutions, not dismantle them. Formal contracts, transparent pricing systems, and data-driven logistics can complement — not replace — the informal norms that give small actors agency.
Protect consumer access. Any redevelopment must safeguard affordability and access for regular marketgoers.

Carbon Market as Food-System Infrastructure

Carbon Market is more than a collection of stalls. It is a critical node in the regional food system — an institution that connects farms and fisheries to city plates, mediates relationships and prices, and anchors the everyday flow of goods.

Decisions about its future must go beyond aesthetics or real estate valuations. They must be grounded in economic reality, allied with evidence from supply-chain research, and centered on inclusion. Only then can Carbon Market evolve in a way that strengthens, rather than weakens, the economic ecosystem it supports.

Carbon Market is food-system infrastructure.
Treating it as mere real estate risks undermining Cebu’s food security, livelihoods, and urban resilience.

Agosto is an economist, urban planner, and a practicing real estate professional. His work examines how markets, land, and urban systems shape everyday livelihoods, with a particular focus on public finance, inclusive development, and the public-interest role of urban infrastructure.