Congress urged to review bills on land agreements

Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) proposes thorough study of the house bills filed in the Congress against Agribusiness Venture Agreements (AVAs) and Joint Venture Agreements (JVAs) as bills against these would affect the employment and the working business agreements especially of plantations in rural areas.

House Bill 5085, also known as the Agribusiness Venture Agreements (AVAs) in Agrarian Reform Lands Act was filed by Rep. Teddy Brawner Baguilat. The house bill aims to regulate implementation and establishment of AVAs or the “entrepreneurial collaboration between Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) and private investors in the implementation of an agriculturally-related business venture involving lands distributed under Comprehensive Agrarian Reform (Carp).

In an earlier interview with Pilipino Bananan Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) executive director Stephen Antig, he said the bill, when passed, may result to an unfriendly climate of the agribusiness sector in Mindanao. He added implementation of HB 5085 would bring lesser investors in the island.

House Resolution 919, on the other hand, was filed by the Makabayan bloc which aims to have the AVAs investigated to address the rising concerns of the ARBs.

“TUCP believes that an attack on these AVAs and JVAs will displace thousands of plantation workers who are protected by Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) and laws specifying minimum labor standards. Cancelling these AVAs and JVAs will cause immense harm,” read TUCPs official statement.

They said they recognize the help that these AVAs and JVAs had provided especially with local employment and livelihood for farmers, workers, and their families and the community. JVAs, they believe, had been a help in alleviating poverty in rural areas of the country.

“TUCP appeals to Congress and the government not to introduce new rules that will drastically disturb the already existing productive and working business arrangements in the rural areas that are already benefiting hundreds of thousands of farmers, workers, and their fami-

lies and communities. These industries have generated downstream commercial enterprises geometrically expanding employment,” they added.

On their official statement, they cited as an example how the banana industry, with little or no help from the government, had provided 503,000 direct and indirect jobs as of 2014 and had contributed P6.5 million assets in the form of business, real property, income, and taxes collected for the operation of the businesses.

They called on the government to provide assistance for the industry in terms of technical, research, and development assistance for its sustainability. JPA