Press Release
24
January 2013
Urgent
cry of land use advocates to Senators
Make LAWS,
not War!
Supporters
of the National Land Use Bill (NLUA) could not help utter dismay and irritation
at the Senators’ bickering over the unequal distribution of additional funds
that was released by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile last December 2012.
“We
grow more and more anxious for the fate of NLUA. This important bill has been
languishing in Congress for more than two decades now and it is now being put
on hold, along with other important laws, over an ill-timed scandal,” exclaimed
Campaign for Land Use Policy Now! (CLUP Now!) convenor Anthony Marzan.
“By
2015, our population will hit the 100 million mark already. The government
continues to ignore the loss of farmland and water sources from rapid
urbanization and climate change. We need to preserve our agricultural land and
critical watersheds as soon as possible if we will survive this century. This
is a major goal that the National Land Use Policy aims to achieve,” Marzan
said.
The
NLUA has been scheduled for deliberations since January 21 but no individual amendments
took place because of the senators’ disagreement over the release of additional
‘maintenance and operating expenses’ (MOOE).
On
January 23, the NLUA again was scheduled for deliberations but was sideswiped
anew, with Senator Alan Peter Cayetano giving a privilege speech countered by
Enrile.
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| Stock photo. Source unknown. |
He
asserted, “We respect the need for the Senate members to exact transparency and
accountability from its leaders but this is not the right time or place. There
are only 6 session days left. Please pass the laws that this nation needs, such
as the NLUA!”
At
present, a total of 35 bills are awaiting the action of the Senate, including
the bills on Strengthening the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit
Program, Comprehensive Regulation of Firearms, Light Weapons, and Ammunitions,
and the NLUA.
The
NLUA was first filed in 1992 during the 9th Congress. After more than two
decades, House Bill 6545 or the National Land Use and Management Act, finally
passed on the third and final reading in the Lower House last September 2012. It
now awaits approval on Second Reading in the Senate and finally, its
ratification before the 3rd regular session of the 15th Congress adjourns.
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