No to moratorium

Biz groups buck DAR's conversion freeze

SEVERAL business groups have called for a review of the moratorium on land conversion proposed by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

In a statement Thursday, business organizations said banning land conversion for two years could set back goals for developing economic zones and bringing growth in rural areas.

Business groups calling for a review of the proposal include the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF), the Makati Business Club (MBC), the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), the Philippine Exporters Confederation (Philexport), the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham), the European Chamber of Commerce (ECCP), and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines (JCCIP).

“Preventing the conversion of such lands to more productive uses... goes against the principle of allowing the highest and best use of land,” the groups said in the statement.

“It will hamper industrialization as agricultural lands, which could be better and more efficiently used as, for example, industrial parks or economic zones, are prevented from conversion.”

The business groups pointed out that the possible effects of the proposed suspension of land conversion run counter to the administration’s goal to bring investments to the countryside and decongest the National Capital Region.

“Development of unproductive and idle agricultural land that could be better used for commercial, residential, and industrial uses will also be hampered, setting back jobs that can potentially be created in the manufacturing, housing, construction, and retail sectors,” they noted.

DAR Undersecretary Marcos Risonar meanwhile clarified that land conversion will still be allowed in priority areas identified by the departments of trade and industry, agriculture, and tourism, and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza).

Earlier, Peza deputy director general Justo Porfirio Yusingco expressed the agency’s concern over the moratorium, saying it might halt the development of new economic zones, which would in turn affect the entry of new investments and expansion of companies in the ecozones. (PNA)