House Deputy Minority Leader and Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Partylist Representative Leila de Lima has filed a bill seeking to prohibit the conversion of irrigated and irrigable agricultural lands for non-agricultural purposes, stressing that such practices endanger food security and rural livelihoods.
“The haphazard conversion of agricultural lands for non-agricultural uses poses serious threats to the country’s food security, environmental sustainability, and rural development,” de Lima said.
She added, “Kung totoong prayoridad ng gobyerno ang food security, kailangan nitong wakasan ang walang pakundangang conversion ng ating mga lupang agrikultural… dapat bigyan ng sapat na suporta ang ating mga magsasaka at mangingisda.”
de Lima’s House Bill No. 5762, or the Agricultural Land Conversion Ban Act, mirrors a similar measure filed by Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan in the Senate. It aims to tighten the rules on reclassifying or converting agricultural lands under the Local Government Code of 1991.
Citing government data, she noted that nearly 100,000 hectares have been approved for land conversion since 1988, while another 165,000 hectares of prime irrigated farmland are lost each year to other uses.
de Lima urged the government to uphold the right to adequate food and protect farmlands from abuse, saying, “Keep agricultural lands agricultural. Itigil at panagutin ang mga mapang-abusong nagtutulak ng iligal na agri land conversion.”