House panel okays bill on swift reversion of abandoned fishponds

AHouse of Representatives committee has approved a bill proposing to cut short the waiting period for reversion to forestlands of unutilized and abandoned fishponds, saying that the move would help address the devastating effects of climate change.

The House Committee on Natural Resources, chaired by Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga, unanimously voted to endorse the enactment of House Bill 4119 which will cause the reversion of thousands of hectares of unused fishponds into forestlands.

HB 4119 seeks to amend Presidential Decree No. 705, otherwise known as “The Revised Forestry

Reform Code of the Philippines” that provides the rules for the reversion of fishponds with Fisheries Lease Agreements into forest land.

Bulacan Rep. Henry R. Villarica, principal author of the bill, said that under current environmental laws, fishponds with Fisheries Lease Agreements with government may only be reverted to forestlands after the lapse of five years of nonutilization.

Both Barzaga and Villarica agreed that the five-year wait is “too long” for a particular fishpond to be used for purposes other than it was intended.

“This period is deemed too long for such fishponds to be utilized for purposes other than that it was intended, such as using it for mangrove propagation to address the devastating effects brought about by climate change,” said Villarica.

The administration lawmaker stressed that quicker reversion of fishponds into forest lands will also promote ecotourism activities “to jumpstart the economy of communities wanting socio-economic development.”

HB 5799 proposes to shorten the required period of abandonment and non-utilization from five to three years before a fishpond can be classified as forest land.

Villarica said she re-filed the bill after failing to get approval during the 16th Congress because of the importance of making environmental laws “attuned to the demands of climate change”.

By reducing the waiting period to just three years, government will be able to convert abandoned fishponds into mangrove areas “to address the devastating effects” of climate change.

Villarica re-filed the bill after it failed to get the approval of the Senate during the 17th Congress.

It was approved on third and final reading during the said Congress.

The bill also mandates the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to jointly set the guidelines for determining and rehabilitating abandoned, undeveloped and underutilized fishponds covered by FLA.