CLUP Guidebook: Volumes 1, 2 and 3 Explained

By Landon Little, Founder of Zentarai Labs · Updated October 11, 2026

If you are searching for "CLUP guidebook volume 1, 2, 3 PDF", the key thing to sort out is which document is which. The guidebook is HLURB's how-to for preparing or updating a Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) and its zoning ordinance. Its foreword calls it an update of the 2006-2007 guidebook, prepared with GIZ, revised in response to the Climate Change Act of 2009 and the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, and built around a ridge-to-reef (integrated watershed) view of the LGU. The legal root is RA 7160 Sec. 20(c): LGUs prepare comprehensive land use plans enacted through zoning ordinances. The 2024 joint circular (JMC No. 1, s. 2024) says the CLUP is to be prepared in accordance with the CLUP Guidebooks, the supplemental guidelines and later guidelines issued by DHSUD.

Two sets of volumes: the guidebook and the CLUP document

The 2013-2014 guidebook is three volumes. The CLUP document it tells you to produce is also three volumes. Part 3 of the guidebook's Volume 1 sets out that second set, and its numbers do not line up with the first.

How they connect: the tools in guidebook Volume 2 produce the studies that fill document Volume 3, and the model ordinance in guidebook Volume 3 is the template for the ordinance in document Volume 2. DHSUD's own Department Order No. 2022-005 uses the document numbering when it refers to "CLUP Volume 3: Sectoral Studies". Kapag may nagsabi ng "Volume 3", itanong muna kung guidebook o CLUP document ang tinutukoy.

Guidebook Volume 1: The Planning Process

The 264-page PDF has three parts: an introduction (rationale, legal and policy environment, relationship with national plans, principles, planning area and period), the 12-step process, and a guide to writing the CLUP and zoning ordinance. The steps:

1. Organize
2. Identify Stakeholders
3. Set the Vision
4. Analyze the Situation
5. Set the Goals and Objectives
6. Establish Development Thrust and Spatial Strategies
7. Prepare the Land Use Plan
8. Draft the Zoning Ordinance
9. Conduct Public Hearing/Consultation
10. Review, Adopt and Approve the CLUP and ZO
11. Implement the CLUP and Zoning Ordinance
12. Monitor and Evaluate

Step 10 holds the review and approval flowcharts (covered below). Part 3 is the outline of the CLUP document itself. The guidebook also says the spatial directions in the CLUP are the basis for the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP); the CDP guide covers that link.

Guidebook Volume 2: Sectoral Studies and Tools for Situational Analysis

The 562-page PDF is the data and analysis toolbox for Step 4 (the cover says "Sectoral Analysis"; the text of Volumes 1 and 2 says "Sectoral Studies"). It is organized in three groups:

• Ecosystem analysis: resource mapping; climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction; forest ecosystem; coastal planning; biodiversity.
• Sectoral studies: demography; social sector; economic sector; infrastructure sector.
• Special area studies: green growth; urban design and development; heritage conservation; ancestral domain.

Volume 2 says its tables are compiled in a CD of editable Excel copies, with GIS-ready tables. If your office needs those files, ask the DHSUD Regional Office.

Guidebook Volume 3: Model Zoning Ordinance

The 101-page PDF is a template ordinance: an introduction on benefits and legal basis, then nine articles and 59 sections, from the title and definition of terms through zone classifications (base zones and overlay zones), zone regulations, general regulations, performance standards, mitigating devices, and administration and enforcement, with annexes on land use categories and color coding and sample zoning maps. The 2024 joint circular describes the CLUP Guidebook as including a guide and template for preparing city and municipal zoning ordinances. It is a model: each LGU's sanggunian enacts its own ordinance.

Supplemental guidelines and related issuances

• Supplemental Guidelines on Mainstreaming Climate and Disaster Risks in the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Prepared by HLURB with the Climate Change Commission and UNDP. Guidebook Volume 1 says HLURB approved it in February 2014; the copy we read is Ver. 2.1 (copyright 2015). It sets out a six-step climate and disaster risk assessment (collect climate and hazard information, scope the impacts, build the exposure database, assess climate change vulnerability, assess disaster risk, summarize findings), then how to formulate a risk-sensitive land use plan. See CDRA.
• A Guide to Comprehensive Land Use Data Management (HLURB CLUP Guidebook 2007, Vol. 3). Listed by the 2013-2014 volumes as a complementary reference.
• DHSUD Department Order No. 2022-005 (Series of 2022) on integrating the Local Shelter Plan into the CLUP. It requires LGUs to integrate the Local Shelter Plan when preparing or updating a CLUP, revises the outline of the housing sub-sector section of CLUP Volume 3 (sectoral studies), and directs DHSUD to prepare a CLUP supplemental guidebook. Check DHSUD's issuances for that guidebook and any later supplements.

What changed since 2014

The copies we read are the 2013-2014 text. What moved is the agency, the planning period and some of the material around the guidebook.

CLUP approval process: the three EO 72 tracks

EO 72 (s. 1993), Sec. 2, splits review and approval by the kind of LGU. The 2024 joint circular repeats the split with DHSUD where the HLRB was.

For a component city or municipality, Step 10 of the guidebook runs like this:

1. The mayor sends the final draft CLUP and zoning ordinance, with the supporting documents, to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, which endorses them to the PLUC.
2. The PLUC checks completeness and reviews. It returns the plan to the LGU with comments, or endorses it for adoption if no revision is needed.
3. The LGU integrates the comments and sends the refined plan back to the PLUC to confirm they were integrated.
4. The sanggunian adopts the CLUP and enacts the zoning ordinance.
5. The LGU submits the adopted CLUP and enacted ordinance, with the adopting resolution, for cursory review and approval by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan through the PLUC.
6. The Sangguniang Panlalawigan approves and authenticates. The LGU then publishes the plan and ordinance, which the guidebook ties to Sec. 59 of RA 7160.

The submission package (Step 10.1 of the guidebook) is the final draft CLUP and zoning ordinance, one set of presentation maps, the executive summary of the CLUP, the sanggunian secretary's certificate of public hearing, the hearing minutes, the list of invitees and sectors represented, a copy of the invitation or notice, and the attendance sheet. The guidebook also lists copy counts; those counts and the receiving offices may have changed under DHSUD's later issuances, so confirm them with your reviewing office.

On timing, EO 72 Sec. 2(g) says review is to be completed within three months of receipt, otherwise the plan is deemed consistent with law and valid. We have not seen how DHSUD applies this today, so treat it as the text of the EO, not as a promise of approval.

CLUP updating: what the guidebook gives you

The guidebook's foreword describes it as a guide to the formulation or updating of CLUPs and zoning ordinances, so the same 12 steps apply to an update. On timing:

• The planning period. Since 2025 it is 12 years with a midterm review in year 6, and under RA 11201 an approved plan stays in force for the period stated in it. Whether your plan is due for a midterm review or a full update depends on its approval date; ask your PPDO or DHSUD Regional Office.

Where to get the official PDFs

We do not host copies. The four PDF links below are the files we opened on October 11, 2026. They are postings by the Provincial Planning and Development Office of Oriental Mindoro, a provincial government office, so they are mirrors rather than DHSUD's own files.

• Volume 1, The Planning Process (264 pages)
• Volume 2, Sectoral Studies and Tools for Situational Analysis (562 pages, large file)
• Volume 3, Model Zoning Ordinance (101 pages)
• Supplemental Guidelines on Mainstreaming Climate and Disaster Risks in the CLUP, Ver. 2.1 (263 pages, large file)
• DHSUD's Guidebooks page. DHSUD's site blocks automated tools, so we could not open it. Open it in a normal browser and compare with the copies above.

Using the guidebook as a checklist

For a draft going to review, three parts of the guidebook work as checklists: the Step 10.1 submission documents, the Part 3 outline of the CLUP document, and the study sections of guidebook Volume 2 that feed document Volume 3. Nova Gov's CLUP Checker is our own checklist built from the guidebook, with 20 sections and 5 supporting studies. That count is our structure, not a number DHSUD publishes. The public page shows the requirements list; the validation and analysis features need a pilot login. The CLUP requirements page walks through the submission package, and the 8-question readiness check is a quick self-test. For tools for planning offices, see software for urban planners.

Frequently asked questions

Saan makukuha ang CLUP guidebook volume 1, 2, 3 PDF?

The three volumes are HLURB publications, and DHSUD has taken over HLURB's land use planning function. DHSUD has a Guidebooks page on its website, but the site blocks automated tools, so we could not open it; check it in a normal browser. We opened all three volumes from copies posted by the Provincial Planning and Development Office of Oriental Mindoro and read their tables of contents, forewords and the passages cited on this page: Volume 1, The Planning Process (264-page PDF), Volume 2, Sectoral Studies and Tools for Situational Analysis (562 pages), and Volume 3, Model Zoning Ordinance (101 pages). The links are in the Where to get the official PDFs section of this page. Nova Gov does not host copies. Kung kailangan mo ng opisyal na kopya, humingi sa DHSUD Regional Office.

Is there a new DHSUD CLUP guidebook?

We could not confirm a newer edition. The rules that govern CLUP preparation still point to the guidebook set described on this page: Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1, s. 2024 (DILG, DHSUD, NEDA, DBM and DOF, dated July 29, 2024) says the CLUP is to be prepared in accordance with the CLUP Guidebooks, the supplemental guidelines and later guidelines issued by DHSUD. Two additions we found since 2014 are rules and supplements around the guidebook, not a new edition: a 12-year planning period (Department Circular No. 2025-018) and a directive to prepare a housing sub-sector supplement (Department Order No. 2022-005). There may be others. DHSUD's website blocks our tools, so check its Guidebooks page for anything posted after those dates.

What is in Volume 2 of the CLUP guidebook?

Volume 2 of the guidebook is Sectoral Studies and Tools for Situational Analysis (the cover says Sectoral Analysis). It is a 562-page toolbox for the situation analysis step of the CLUP process, in three groups: ecosystem analysis (resource mapping, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, forest, coastal and marine, biodiversity), sectoral studies (demography, social, economic, infrastructure) and special area studies (green growth, urban design and development, heritage conservation, ancestral domain). Mag-ingat sa numbering: Volume 2 of the CLUP document an LGU submits is the zoning ordinance, and these studies go in that document's Volume 3.

Ilang taon ang saklaw ng CLUP ngayon?

Twelve years, with a mandatory midterm review in the sixth year, under DHSUD Department Circular No. 2025-018 on the standardized CLUP planning period. Dati, ang rule ay maximum na 9 na taon, na may review pagkatapos ng 3 taon (HLURB Board Resolution R-906, s. 2013, effective January 24, 2014). RA 11201 also says CLUPs already approved and being implemented remain in force for the period stated in them, so ask your PPDO or DHSUD Regional Office how the change applies to a plan approved before the circular. The CLUP validity period page has the details.

What is the CLUP approval process?

It follows EO 72 (s. 1993), which sets three tracks. Component cities and municipalities: the Provincial Land Use Committee reviews the plan, the sanggunian adopts the CLUP and enacts the zoning ordinance, and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan approves it. Provinces, highly urbanized cities and independent component cities: the Regional Land Use Committee reviews and the national body ratifies, which is DHSUD now that it has taken over HLURB's role. Metro Manila cities and municipalities: reviewed and ratified at the national level, and the 2024 joint circular names MMDA alongside DHSUD. Under the 2013-2014 guidebook (Step 10), every track starts with a complete package: the final draft CLUP and zoning ordinance, an executive summary, and the public hearing documents. Confirm current procedures with your DHSUD Regional Office.

Does DHSUD require a fixed number of sections?

Not in the guidebook text we read. Part 3 of Volume 1 lays out the CLUP document as an outline of topics for its three volumes (the plan, the zoning ordinance, and the sectoral and special area studies) and does not state a required total number of sections. The 20 sections and 5 supporting studies in Nova Gov's CLUP Checker are our own checklist structure, drawn from the guidebook. We have not read any review checklist that DHSUD or a province uses, so ask your DHSUD Regional Office what reviewers check.

Sources and what we could not verify

Read on October 11, 2026.

• HLURB CLUP Guidebook 2013-2014, Volumes 1, 2 and 3, and the Supplemental Guidelines Ver. 2.1, from the Oriental Mindoro PPDO copies (provincial government mirror). We opened all four files and read their tables of contents, forewords and the passages cited here.
• Executive Order No. 72, s. 1993 (Lawphil): Secs. 1 and 2 on plan formulation and the three review tracks.
• RA 7160 (Lawphil): Secs. 20(c), 447, 458 and 468 on the CLUP and zoning powers.
• RA 11201 (Lawphil): Secs. 4, 5, 12 and 25 on DHSUD, HSAC and the transfer of land use planning functions.
• HLURB Administrative Order No. 01, s. 2014 (Resolution R-906, s. 2013) (Supreme Court E-Library): the 9-year maximum and 3-year review.
• DILG-DHSUD-NEDA-DBM-DOF Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1, s. 2024 (DBM): CLUP Guidebooks as the preparation standard, and the review routing.
• DHSUD Department Order No. 2022-005 (copy hosted by UN-Habitat Philippines): Local Shelter Plan integration.
• DILG Region V (Catanduanes) post, October 9, 2025: the 12-year planning period and year-6 midterm review.
• PTV report on the PLANADO program: the 2028 backlog target.

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