COMPREHENSIVE LAND USE PLAN

APALIT, PAMPANGA



Executive Summary





Apalit is one of the 20 municipalities of Pampanga. It is located in the south-eastern section

of the Province. It is the gateway of the Province coming from Metro Manila and lies adjacent to

Bulacan Province.





Apalit has twelve barangays, namely: Balucuc, Calantipe, Cansinala, Capalangan, Colgante,

Paligui, Sampaloc, San Juan, San Vicente, Sucad, Sulipan, and Tabuyuc. The largest barangay is

Balucuc covering 17.99% of the total municipal area, second is Tabuyuc with 17.63% and San

Vicente which is 12.64% of the municipal area. The smallest barangays are Colgante with an area of

2.55%, Sampaloc – 2.84%, and San Juan – 3.13%. San Juan serves as the Poblacion area with the

adjoining San Vicente and portion of barangay Sampaloc as the central business district.





Apalit has a total land area of 6, 147 hectares which is merely 2.82% of the province's land

area. In terms of size, Apalit ranks 14th among the municipalities of Pampanga. The municipality

has generally flat terrain with slopes of only 0-3%. The Pampanga river traverses the entire mid-

eatern section.





In year 2000 census, Apalit recorded a total population of 78, 295, posting an increase of

15.53% or 15, 922 persons during the last decade (1990-2000). The biggest increase recorded was

in year 1995-2000 wherein an additional 12, 575 persons were registered posting an increase rate of

19.13%. In 1995, some barangays suffered decreased population due to the flooding brought about

by the effects of Mt. Pinatubo eruption. These barangays are San Vicente, San Juan, Paligui and

Sampaloc.





Despite the trend of urbanization, Apalit is still an agricultural municipality. It is one of the

rice producing municipalities of Pampanga; ten out of its twelve barangays are rice producers. The

land being used for agriculture is estimated to 4, 349.778 hectares which is about 70.76% of the

total municipal land area. Owing to its small area, its produce only accounts to 5.25% of the

province's total rice production. Crop land occupies about 4, 067.24 hectares, area for inland fish-

farming is 162.6 hectares, and land used for livestock raising is merely 12.833 hectares.

Unproductive agricultural land due to annual floodwater inundation and salinity is estimated to

107.10 hectares. This area is located along the western-northern section of the municipality and lies

adjacent to the lahar affected towns of Pampanga.





Small industries dominates the two urban barangays: San Juan and San Vicente. Most of the

industries and blacksmithing and ironworks, food processing and clay pots manufacturing; these are

indigenous industries that could be traced even before the municipality was founded.





The preferred development strategy is Mixed Land Use but with industries safe to maintain

the agricultural use of the municipal land resources. The main crop is rice (palay) which is best

suited to the low elevation of the municipality. Apalit on the average produces 17, 000 metric tons

of palay yearly between the 1999-2000 period. The produce is minimal compared to other

municipalities of Pampanga because the area is small in comparison to the major rice producing

towns. Fish-farming is also one of the agricultural activities. Inland fishpond covers a total of

172.047 hectares; tilapia and other freshwater fishes are the favored species being cultured.

Land Use Plan



General Land Use





Apalit covers an area of 6, 147 hectares. Out of this total 70.76% or an estimated 4, 349.771

hectares are agricultural lands, built-up areas comprises 22.02% of the total municipal area of

1,353.529 hectares, and area for rivers and creeks constitutes an estimated 4.72% or 290 hectares.





Built-up area consisted of residential – 1, 189.729 hectares, commercial 109 hectares,

industrial 10.55 hectares, institutional – 38.3 hectares, open space – 16.5 and infastructures (roads,

bridges and others) – 143.15 hectares. The industrial area is located along the Sampaloc-Paligui

section in between the Mac Arthur Highway and the North Luzon Expressway.





Agricultural area comprises croplands with an estimated area of 4, 067.24 hectares,

fishponds 162.6 hectares, agro-industrial area for livestock and poultry raising – 12.833 hectares,

and unproductive farmlands – 107.101 hectares.





The planned changes of land usage during the planning period is only minimal. The

agricultural area being proposed for reclassification/conversion is only about 105 hectares of the

total agricultural area. This figure is below the 5% limitation allowed by DAR. Pojected change is

intended for residential and institutional use only. Unproductive lands in barangays Paligui and

Sampaloc will be utilized productively. Owners of unused lands will be encouraged to adapt the

farms to other agricultural ativities such as fishponds and other agro-industrial business.



Urban Land Use





The estimated urban area in Apalit is 1, 144 hectares representing 18.61% of the

municipality. Out of this total 763.91 hectares are utilized for residential, 60 hectares for

commercial, 10.55 hectares for industrial, 20.5 hectares for institutional, open space 6.0 hectares,

and Infra and other uses 74.52 hectares. The latter includes roads, bridges, and rivers and creeks.

Agricultural lands within the urban area is estimated to be 208.54 hectares.





For the planning period, urban land will remain the same. However, agricultural area within

the urban zone will decrease by 66.54 hectares. The change in use represents the expansion of

settlements, industrial projects and establishment of schools and hospitalsin the urban zone.





Infrastructure Plan





The major projects for the planning period are aimed to direct the development of Apalit into

a future city of Pampanga in the next planning years. Widening and upgrading of major roads,

specifically the Mac Arthur Highway to ease traffic congestion, and improvement of

supportinfrastructure facilities will be the major priorities. To lessen the long period of flooding,

construction of effective drainage canal along the road will be included in the program. Funding is

included in the National budget for Infrastructure Projects.





For the municipal government's part, the construction and upgrading of barangay roads will

be maintained. One of the dream project is to be able to provide a direct road to connect the two

distant barangays of Apalit: Calantipe and Balucuc to the town proper of Apalit. The road will

enable farmers to deliver their produce to the town proper and other places in Pampanga.The

construction of the proposed road will also enable the municipal government to provide the

necessary services to the residents instead of getting these from nearby Bulacan towns.





Other projects for the period are construction of farm-to-market roads, construction of sports

facilities in every barangay to persuade the youth to engage in sports activities instead of being

lured in illegal drugs, improvement of support facilities such as water supply system and

telecommunication facilities in urban barangay and the improvement and construction of

government buildings and structures.





Environmental Management Plan



Implementation of Sanitary Waste Management Program and Acquisition and Development of a

Sanitary Landfill Site





The municipality's temporary dumping site is a two-hectare lot located at Barangay Sulipan.

The estimated volume of waste collected per day is 176 cubic meters. There are 40 workers

manning the dumping site. Equipment includes six (6) dump trucks, and one (1) compactor. Some

barangays have their own garbage trucks. The site is situated along the Mac Arthur Highway and

temporarily fenced. The present location is not suitable since the area is envisioned as part of the

commercial zone and adjacent to residential areas. There were various site proposals for the sanitary

landfill but due to the problem of flooding during the rainy season, the sites were found not suitable

based from the criteria set by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.





There was a proposal for the provincial government to provide a common sanitary landfill

for low-lying and easily flooded municipalities but no municipality is willing to accommodate the

garbage. The most probable solution is for every barangay to establish its own system of waste

management; this includes the acquisition of site in any legal form to process the garbage. Barangay

officials should be encouraged to conduct information-dissemination and training of households for

the proper segregation of wastes, recycling and composting of kitchen wastes. By this method,

sanitary disposal of garbage will be ensured.



Clearing of Rivers and Creeks





Clearing of rivers and creeks will be a municipal-wide program of the local government.

Barangay officials will be tasked to monitor cleanliness along waterways and public places within

their jurisdiction. A municipal ordinance will be enacted and supported in the barangay level to

ensure the success of this program. Structures built illegally and found not complying on the

easements for rivers and creeks specified in the Zoning Ordinance will be removed.



Beautification, Greening and Tree Planting Program





This program involves planting of trees along roads, river banks, dikes and isolated creeks.

Vacant and idle lands will also be subjected to tree planting activities to help purify air. Barangay

beautification contests will be held annually to encourage residents to clean their surroundings.

Home gardening will also be encouraged in every barangay to supplement their vegetable needs.