NGO urges junking of RP-China agreement on use of idle RP lands
BACOLOD CITY, PHILIPPINES - The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines and Fair Trade Alliance are pushing for the permanent suspension of an agreement which allows China to utilize 1.2 million hectares of idle and under-utilized land in the Philippines.
Dr. Rene Ofreneo of the Fair Trade Alliance, a multisectoral group pushing for fair trade policy, said that while government has suspended the RP-China deal, there is still an ongoing consolidation of the data needed by government agencies involved in the agreement.
In January 2007, government committed 1.2 million hectares to China, setting into motion the process of identifying lands covered by the deal.
Ofreneo, who attended the two-day seminar workshop on Transforming Philippine Agriculture through Balanced Rural Development Policies here, yesterday said it was stated in the agreement that China will help the government in the development of infrastructure projects in the identified 1.2 million hectares.
Because it is a lease agreement, he said China will provide technology management, take over the land, and implement their own priorities, putting Philippine priorities and its food security in the backburner.
"They are talking of 1.2 million hectares of idle and under-utilized land, but where is the map? They are assuming that there is so much land, but why can’t they finish implementing the agrarian reform program?" Ofreneo said.
He said Philippine food security is now at stake due to the looming food shortage occasioned by the use of land to cultivate biofuel crops. He said they are not against globalization per se but decried the opening of Philippine markets to the world "too fast and too soon."
Ofreneo, however, said he is optimistic the RP-China agreement will be permanently suspended with strong opposition coming from the CBCP whose members were in several of their meetings with the secretaries of Agriculture, Enviornment, and Agrarian Reform, and farmers’ groups. - Gilbert Bayoran
