[ journal.com.ph ] April 16, 2008
By: Jester P. Manalastas
HOUSE Speaker Prospero Nograles yesterday asked at least three government agencies to conduct a full audit of all arable public lands and pastures to determine which among these can be utilized for corporate farming.
In a statement, Nograles urged the Department of Agriculture, Department of Agrarian Reform and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to start looking for arable public lands for food security.
According to Nograles, aside from the public estates, the government should also identify and locate private lands which have lain idle for years.
The Speaker proposed corporate farming and the possibility of coming out with a legislation which gives the government the authority to take over idle but privately owned agricultural lands and use them for food production.
“Under the prevailing circumstances, I think that we should have a legislation which would optimize the use of all agricultural lands. It should be a case of use-it-or-lose-it so that those who own idle agricultural lands will be forced to use their estates for food sufficiency especially rice, corn, wheat or any agricultural food products,” Nograles said.
This early, the three government agencies should already conduct a thorough audit of all public and private estates which still can be tapped to optimize the country’s food production, the Speaker added.
Nograles also said conversion of agricultural lands should be suspended because of the country’s shrinking agricultural base.
Congress is now scrutinizing the proposed bill extending the life of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program and it would be timely to look into this matter, Nograles said.
“We should have an inventory of government lands. Even pasture leases of thousands of hectares but without cattle or even goats should be reviewed and may be developed for food production,” he said.
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