Sunday, November 27, 2016

PARC to impose two-year suspension on land use conversions

The Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC), Chaired by President Rodrigo R. Duterte, shall impose a moratorium on land use conversion of agricultural lands for a period of two (2) years to preserve agricultural lands and ensure food security.
Land use conversion is the act or process of changing the
current physical use of a piece of agricultural land into some
other use, as approved by Department of Agrarian Reform.
The PARC is the highest policy-making and implementing body on the land reform program of the government. It is composed of the President of the Philippines as Chairman, the Secretary of Agrarian Reform as Vice-Chairman and the following members: Secretaries of the Departments of Agriculture; Environment and Natural Resources; Budget and Management; Local Government; Public Works and Highways; Trade and Industry; Finance; Labor and Employment; Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority; President, Land Bank of the Philippines; Administrator, National Irrigation Administration; and three (3) representatives of affected landowners to represent Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao; six (6) representatives of agrarian reform beneficiaries, two (2) each from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, provided that one of them shall be from the cultural communities.
The PARC also has an Executive Committee (EXCOM) composed of DAR Secretary Rafael Mariano as Chairman, and such other members as the President of the Philippines may designate, taking into account Article XIII, Section 5 of the Constitution. Unless otherwise directed by the PARC, the EXCOM may meet and decide on any meeting and all matters in between meetings of the PARC: Provided, however, that its decisions must be reported to the PARC immediately and not later than the next meeting.
Recently, the PARC was convened last September 12, 2016 after more than a decade of inactivity wherein DAR Secretary Rafael Mariano presented the legal structure of the PARC  and the DAR’s five-point policy thrust and directives.
In that meeting, President Duterte also affirmed his support to the policy on free irrigation and the return of the coco levy fund to coconut farmers. The PARC also instructed the Land Bank of the Philippines to provide more services to agrarian reform beneficiaries and the distribution of CARP lands consisting of around 800,000 hectares as land acquisition (LAD) balances including those not yet issued with Notices of Coverage (NOCs).
During the meeting, a two-year suspension on land use conversion was approved wherein President Duterte instructed the DAR to prepare the draft Executive Order for the implementation of the land conversion moratorium. The moratorium shall apply to: all awarded lands under RA 6657 as amended, PD 27 and other agrarian reform laws, all agricultural lands with Notices of Coverage (NOCs), all irrigated and irrigable lands, all prime agricultural lands, retention areas of landowners which are tenanted or occupied by tenant-farmers, etc. The DAR was also tasked to promulgate the rules and regulations for the land use conversion moratorium. /cds

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