MALACAÑANG
Manila

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES

PROCLAMATION NO. 913

DECLARING CERTAIN PARCELS OF LAND OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN SITUATED IN THE MUNICIPALITIES OF SAN FRANCISCO, BUNAWAN, VERUELA, LORETO AND LA PAZ, ALL IN THE PROVINCE OF AGUSAN DEL SUR AS PROTECTED AREA UNDER THE CATEGORY OF WILDLIFE SANCTUARY AND ITS PERIPHERAL AREAS AS BUFFER ZONE.

Upon recommendation of the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, and pursuant to the powers vested in me by law, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Philippines, do hereby set aside and declare certain parcels of land of the public domain situated in the Municipalities of San Francisco, Rosario, Bunawan, Veruela, Loreto and La Paz, in the Province of Agusan del Sur, subject to prior private valid rights, if any, as protected area under the category of Wildlife Sanctuary, and its peripheral areas as Buffer Zone, subject to ground verification.

The technical descriptions provided hereunder is based on a table survey and therefore subject to ground survey and verification to be conducted by the DENR, for which additional funds are to be requested for the purpose from the Department of Budget and Management.

The Buffer Zone:

Containing an approximate area 14,835.989 hectares as a wildlife sanctuary and 4,360.569 hectares as buffer zone.

It shall be known as the AGUSAN MARSH WILDLIFE SANCTUARY.

It shall be under the administrative jurisdiction of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and shall be administered by the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) as constituted pursuant to Republic Act 7586 otherwise known as the NIPAS Act of 1992 and its implementing rules and regulations.

The purpose for the establishment of the Wildlife Sanctuary is to protect and conserve the biological diversity and protect nationally significant species, biotic communities or physical features of the environment.

In so far as the rules and regulations over national parks are consistent with the provisions of the NIPAS Act, they shall continue to apply until Congress shall otherwise declare. All other applicable laws shall remain in full force and effect.

The DENR shall prioritize the implementation of the General Management Planning Strategy (GMPS), boundary relocation and appointment of the Protected Area Staff in the area covered.

A person qualifying for tenured migrant status as of the effectivity of the NIPAS Act shall be eligible to become a steward of a portion of land within the appropriate management zones of the protected area and from which he may derive subsistence.

The PAMB shall perform such powers and duties as specified in the NIPAS Act. All decisions made pursuant to these rules and regulations shall have the force and effect of acts of a final PAMB under the NIPAS Act.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 31^st day of October, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and ninety six.

(Sgd.) FIDEL V. RAMOS

By the President:
(Sgd.) RUBEN D. TORRES
Executive Secretary