Giving space for Philippine agriculture

(Last of a series)

Unbridled approval of land use conversion (LUC) applications may also impede the growth of the Philippine agriculture industry.

“… [S]ignificant problems arise in the use and allocation of land, e.g. the continuing tension behind the conversion of agrarian reform lands to non-agricultural use,” said Philippine Institute for Development Studies’ Gilberto M. Llanto and Marife M. Ballesteros in their discussion paper entitled, “Land Issues in Poverty Reduction Strategies and the Development Agenda: The Philippines.”

“… [W]ithout a clear and consistent land-use policy, the government finds itself in a policy bind: sometimes supporting sectors that would favor agricultural use over urban use, and on other occasions favoring those sectors that demand land for housing, business, and other non-agricultural uses.”

The article entitled, “Many Farms Lost to Land Conversion,” which was published on the March 1, 2017 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, reported that between the years 1988, when the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law took effect, and 2016, LUC applications covering 97,592.5 hectares of agricultural land, or the size of Metro Manila and Cebu, were approved. The figure does not include pending applications for conversion, agricultural land reclassified by local government units, and illegally converted land.

In the article entitled, “EO on Land Conversion Moratorium Out Soon,” which was published in its March 2, 2017 issue, the PDI reported that agricultural lands were converted for residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, and other non-agricultural purposes. LUC processing for residential use was most frequent, having accounted for 57.77 percent of the applications, while land conversion for commercial use was a far second, with 15.26 percent.

In order to address rampant LUC and preserve prime agricultural lands to ensure food security, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) implemented the 2002 Comprehensive Rules on Land Use Conversion.

Under the rules, the following criteria shall guide the resolution of LUC applications: (a) conversion may be allowed if the land subject of the application were not non-negotiable as defined under the Rules; and (b) conversion may be allowed, in accordance with Section 65 of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), when the land has ceased to be economically feasible and sound for agricultural purposes or the locality has become urbanized and the land will have a greater economic value for residential, commercial, industrial, or other non-agricultural purposes.

Meanwhile, conversion of lands within the Strategic Agriculture and Fisheries Development Zone shall consider the following factors: (a) LUC is consistent with the natural expansion of the municipality or locality, as contained in the approved physical framework and land use plan; (b) area to be converted in use is not the only remaining food production area of the community; (c) LUC shall not hamper the availability of irrigation to nearby farmlands; (d) the area with low productivity will be accorded priority for LUC; and (e) sufficient disturbance compensation shall be given to farmers whose livelihood are negatively affected by the land use conversion as provided for by existing laws and regulations.

When the agricultural land which is the subject of the application for conversion has been acquired under CARP, its conversion shall be allowed if the applicant is the agrarian reform beneficiary thereof, and after he has fully paid his obligation as required under Sec. 65 of CARP.

Persons affected by the proposed land use conversion may file a written protest against the application for conversion within 30 days from posting of the requisite billboards under Section 11 of the Rules, or within 15 days from the conduct of ocular inspection, whichever is later.

For applications involving housing projects under EO No. 45-2001, the protest period shall be within 17 days from posting of said billboards or within five days from conduct of ocular inspection, whichever is later.

The DAR also moves for a two-year moratorium on land use conversions, as well as a review of the local government units’ power to reclassify lands.

According to DAR Secretary Rafael V. Mariano, the final draft of an executive order covering such moratorium is now awaiting President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature.

Said Mariano in the DAR’s official website: “That two-year moratorium will give us time to reevaluate the previously approved [land conversion] applications. We can also find out if those lands were developed or not.”