Section 4. Section 5 of Republic Act No. 7586 is hereby amended to read as follows:

“Sec. 5. Establishment and Extent of the System.— The establishment and operationalization of the System shall involve the following:

“(a) All areas or islands in the Philippines proclaimed, designated or set aside, pursuant to a law, presidential decree, presidential proclamation or executive order as national park, game refuge, bird and wildlife sanctuary, wilderness area, strict nature reserve, watershed, mangrove reserve, fish sanctuary, natural and historical landmark, protected and managed landscape/seascape as well as old growth forests identified before the effectivity of this Act or still to be identified, are hereby designated as initial components of the System. The initial components of the System shall be governed by existing laws, rules and regulations, not inconsistent with this Act.

“(a.1.) Establishment as Protected Areas.— Aside from the areas already declared as protected areas through acts of Congress, the following parcels of land and/or bodies of water are hereby established as protected areas within the classification of national park pursuant to the Philippine Constitution:

“The boundaries and technical descriptions of each protected area as described in the attached Annex, which are duly certified accurate on every page thereof by the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) are hereby adopted and made an integral part hereof.

“The DENR, with the assistance of other government agencies, if necessary, shall delineate and demarcate on the ground the boundaries of each protected area which shall not be modified except by an act of Congress.

“(a.2.) The Remaining Initial Components. – Within three (3) years from the effectivity of this Act, the DENR shall undertake the following activities in preparation for the establishment of the remaining initial components as protected areas through an act of Congress:

“(1) Provide maps and technical descriptions of the areas;

“(2) Conduct suitability assessment of the areas; and

“(3) Conduct public consultations.

“Any initial component that does not satisfy the abovementioned requirements shall be disestablished pursuant to Section 7 of this Act.

“(b) All DENR records pertaining to said protected areas, including maps and technical descriptions or natural boundaries, copies of rules and regulations governing them, copies of public notices of, and reports submitted to Congress regarding pending additions, eliminations, or modifications shall be made available to the public. These legal documents pertaining to protected areas shall also be available to the public in the respective DENR Regional Offices, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Offices (PENROs) and Community Environment and Natural Resources Offices (CENROs) and Protected Area Management Offices (PAMOs) where protected areas are located;

“(c) The DENR shall conduct a suitability assessment for each of the proposed protected area. If found suitable for inclusion in the System according to the categories established in Section 3 hereof, a report containing the following items shall be submitted to the president as soon as the study is completed, to wit:

“(1) A protected area occupants survey;

“(2) An ethnographic study;

“(3) A protected area resource profile;

“(4) Land and water use plans; and

“(5) Other background studies.

“(d) In the conduct of public consultation, the DENR shall:

“(1) Notify the public of proposed action through publication in a newspaper of general circulation and such other means including notices to the stakeholders that will likely be affected within the respective localities, thirty (30) days prior to the public consultation;

“(2) Conduct public consultation at locations near the proposed protected area;

“(3) Invite all local government units (LGUs) in the affected areas, national agencies concerned, people’s organizations (POs) and nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and request for corresponding position papers; and

“(4) Prepare recommendations based on the views and comments gathered from the public consultation;

“(e) Upon receipt of the recommendations of the DENR, the President shall issue a proclamation establishing the proposed protected areas and providing for measures for their protection until the time when Congress shall have enacted a law finally declaring the recommended areas as part of the System; and

“(f) Upon completion of the appropriate review, the President shall recommend to the Senate and the House of Representatives the designations of protected areas or reclassification of each area.”