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Senate Committee on Agrarian Reform chairman Senator Gringo Honasan
Photo by Angelica Carballo.
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H
"This is the mother of all plans that
cuts across landscapes and generations. We need to pass this Bill NOW as our
legacy to our children and children's children."
This statement was made by Senator
Gringo Honasan during the High-level Discussion on Land Use and its Impact on
Food Security, Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction at the
Mandarin Hotel on October 18, 2012.
Honasan is the chairman of the Senate
committee on agrarian reform and sponsor of the Senate Bill 3091 or the
National Land Use Act.
"More than a voters' list, we
need an updated inventory of land and water resources, where we can base our
policies," the Senator added, as he gave perspectives and prospects of the
passage of the senate version of the National Land Use Bill, and called on his
colleagues to give notice and pass the bill.
At present, the National Land Use
Act, which was already passed by the Congress last September 11, 2012, is
awaiting for the senate leadership to schedule the bill for plenary
deliberation.
"By 2050, the world needs to
feed around 9 billion people with almost 10% coming from urban megacities. And
yet, even with the rising demand for food, farmers may not be able to increase
their area to grow food. Governments continue to ignore the loss of farmland
and water sources to rapid urbanization and even to climate change. We need to
preserve our agricultural resources and farmers as soon as possible if we will
survive this century. And this is what the National Land Use Policy being
lobbied in Congress, aims to achieve."
This was heavily emphasized by AKBAYAN
Rep. Kaka Bag-ao, who served as Vice-Chair of the Special Land Use Committee in
the Lower House.
"We need to preserve our topsoil
and water resources to continue with agricultural production. We need to
protect our forests and critical watersheds. We need to support and reward our
small holder farmers and fishers, including indigenous peoples, which comprise
around 50-60% of the country's 90 million population," added Ifugao
Representative Teddy Brawner Baguilat, who co-sponsored House Bill 6545 or an
Act Instituting a National Land Use and Management Policy.
Bag-ao and Baguilat join the Campaign
for Land Use Policy NOW! (CLUP Now!) in calling on the Senate to pass its
version of the National Land Use Policy Act. This comes almost a month since
the Lower House approved House Bill 6545 under the active sponsorship of Rep.
Bag-ao and Rep. Baguilat.
"The Senate needs to act on the
NLUA Bill NOW! It is high time for the passage of a land use policy law that
will provide for a rational, holistic and just use and management of the
country's land and water resources," said CLUP Now! convenor Anthony
Marzan.
Speaking on behalf of the poor
farmers and fishefolk, Ruperto Aleroza of Pambansang Kilusan ng mga Samahan sa
Kanayunan (PKSK) remarked, "Bukod sa masisiguro ng batas na ito ang
pananatili ng panakahan at palaisdaan, makakatulong din ang NLUA sa pagsagip ng
mga nanganganib ang buhay sa peligro ng sakuna, lalo sa mga lugar na madali
nang gumuho. Kung mapaplano nang maigi ang tamang lugar ng pabahay, produksyon
ng pagkain at kabuhayan, di malayong maibsan natin ang masamang epekto ng
pagbabago ng klima."
CLUP Now! is a loose coalition of Non- Government
Organizations and People's Organizations dedicated to the passage of a national
land use law. It was an active member of the Technical Working Group on the
National Land Use Act in the Lower House.
"This law is very important, and
that is even to say the least. We are being faced by climate change, worsening
of disasters, and looming food and water crises, and we should be more
intelligent on how we use our land. We need to cater to the needs of everybody,"
Marzan adds.
Aside from Honasan, Baguilat and
Bag-ao, the event gathered leading advocates of the land use management policy
act, including League of Provinces President Governor Alfonso Umali of Mindoro
Oriental , Dr. Esteban Godilano of the Policy Planning Research and Development
and Regulations, and Ms. Leonor Lava of the Philippine Rural Reconstruction
Movement.
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