Make LAWS, not War!
MANILA, PHILIPPINES - “We expected
to witness the approval of the Land Use Bill on 2nd reading yesterday
and instead we were caught in a crossfire that did not involve lawmaking. Senators,
please get on with your job!”
Supporters of the National Land Use
Bill (NLUA) could not help utter dismay and irritation at the Senators’
bickering over the unequal distribution of additional funds that was released
by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile last December 2012.
“We grow more and more anxious for
the fate of NLUA. This important bill has been languishing in Congress for more
than two decades now and it is now being put on hold, along with other
important laws, over an ill-timed scandal,” exclaimed Campaign for Land Use
Policy Now! (CLUP Now!) convenor Anthony Marzan.
“By 2015, our population will hit the 100 million mark already. The government continues to ignore the loss of farmland and water sources from rapid urbanization and climate change. We need to preserve our agricultural land and critical watersheds as soon as possible if we will survive this century. This is a major goal that the National Land Use Policy aims to achieve,” Marzan said.
The NLUA has been scheduled for
deliberations since January 21 but no individual amendments took place because
of the senators’ disagreement over the release of additional ‘maintenance and
operating expenses’ (MOOE).
On January 23, the NLUA again was
scheduled for deliberations but was sideswiped anew, with Senator Alan Peter
Cayetano giving a privilege speech countered by Enrile.
Datu Eduardo Banda, chair of the
Koalisyon ng mga Samahang Katutubo ng Pilipinas (KASAPI), came all the way from
Kidapawan City, Cotabato to give input to questions about ancestral domains
from Senators on the Land Use bill.
He asserted, “We respect the need
for the Senate members to exact transparency and accountability from its
leaders but this is not the right time or place. There are only 6 session days
left. Please pass the laws that this nation needs, such as the NLUA!”
At present, a total of 35 bills are
awaiting the action of the Senate, including the bills on Strengthening the
Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Program, Comprehensive Regulation of
Firearms, Light Weapons, and Ammunitions, and the NLUA.
The NLUA was first filed in 1992 during
the 9th Congress. After more than two decades, House Bill 6545 or
the National Land Use and Management Act, finally passed on the third and final
reading in the Lower House last September 2012. It now awaits approval on
Second Reading in the Senate and finally, its ratification before the 3rd
regular session of the 15th Congress adjourns.
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