Since September 25, 2025, a CLUP's standardized planning period is 12 years, with a mandatory midterm review at year 6, under DHSUD Department Circular No. 2025-018. From 2014 to September 2025, the rule was a 9-year maximum with review after 3 years, under HLURB Board Resolution No. 906. Neither figure has ever come from a statute — both are subordinate DHSUD/HLURB regulation, and the newer circular does not clearly say what happens to a CLUP already approved under the old rule.
Most explanations of CLUP validity state a single number as if it has always been the rule. It hasn't. The Philippines changed its CLUP planning period twice in the last dozen years, and the most recent change is barely a year old at the time of writing. If your LGU's CLUP was approved any time before late 2025, the period it was written against may no longer be the period DHSUD expects going forward — and the instrument that changed it doesn't fully say what happens to plans already in progress.
| Current period | 12 years, mandatory midterm review at year 6 |
|---|---|
| Set by | DHSUD Department Circular No. 2025-018, issued September 25, 2025 |
| Prior period (2014–2025) | 9 years maximum, review after 3 years |
| Prior rule set by | HLURB Board Resolution No. 906, s. 2013 (effective January 24, 2014) |
| Set by statute? | No — RA 7160 and EO 72 mandate and route review of the CLUP but fix no period; both figures above are subordinate DHSUD/HLURB regulation |
| Applies to BARMM? | No — DC 2025-018 explicitly excludes BARMM LGUs |
On September 25, 2025, DHSUD Secretary Jose Ramon P. Aliling signed Department Circular No. 2025-018, "Adoption of the Standardized Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) Planning Period." Its operative language directs LGUs to adopt "a standardized twelve (12)-year Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) planning period with a mandatory midterm review at year six (6)," while allowing an LGU to initiate an update at any point in response to new data or policy changes, subject to validation by its DHSUD Regional Office.
The circular's own Rationale section describes this more loosely as "up to twelve (12) years" — worth noting only because it means the circular states its own rule two different ways in two different places. The operative sections (where compliance obligations actually live) say standardized 12 years, and that is the number to plan against.
The change is tied to the Synchronized Local Planning and Budgeting Calendar established under Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2024-01 (DILG, DHSUD, NEDA, DBM, and DOF) — a 12-year CLUP cycle lines up with two 6-year Comprehensive Development Plan cycles, which is also likely why the midterm review lands at year 6 rather than year 3.
From January 24, 2014, the governing instrument was HLURB Board Resolution No. 906, Series of 2013 — approved by the HLURB Board of Commissioners on September 25, 2013 and promulgated as HLURB Administrative Order No. 01, s. 2014. Its operative text established "a maximum time frame (planning period) of NINE (9) YEARS for a COMPREHENSIVE LAND USE PLAN subject to review, updating and amendment by the local government units after THREE (3) YEARS from its date of approval."
Two things are worth knowing if you're researching this further. First, the "9 years" and "3-year review" figures are the same sentence in the same resolution, not two separate rules from two separate sources — a source citing one without the other hasn't found something new, just quoted part of it. Second, HLURB's own CLUP Guidebook, written around the same period, separately describes 9 years as a minimum rather than the Resolution's stated maximum — the two HLURB documents genuinely contradict each other. The Resolution is the binding instrument; treat "maximum" as the operative word.
Two real gaps in the new circular are worth knowing before assuming your LGU's status:
In practice, this means the honest answer for an LGU with an already-approved CLUP is confirm with your Provincial Planning and Development Office or DHSUD Regional Office rather than assume either period applies automatically. RA 11201, the law that created DHSUD, does contain a general principle that existing CLUPs "remain in full force and effect for the duration of the period as stated therein" — which points toward an existing plan simply running out its originally-approved term — but DC 2025-018 itself doesn't say so for this specific transition, so don't present that as a settled answer.
Both the current and prior rules build in a check-in partway through the cycle — year 6 of 12 today, year 3 of 9 under the old rule. This is a review, not a full rewrite: it's the point where the LGU confirms the plan still reflects current conditions (population growth, new hazard data, infrastructure that changed the picture) and makes targeted adjustments, rather than waiting a full cycle to find out the plan has drifted from reality. Skipping it is one of the more common findings during SGLG assessment.
Three questions, in order:
An LGU genuinely unsure where it stands against either rule is better served confirming directly with its PPDO or DHSUD Regional Office than guessing from a public reference page — the transitory-provision gap above means there isn't yet a single clean answer for every situation.
Run the 8-question readiness self-check, or book a free 30-minute call about a tracker built around your LGU's own CLUP workplan and review dates.
Run the readiness self-check CLUP compliance support