MANDAR, Marie Claire P.

Word Count: 2,224

2013-52151

Agricultural Land Conversion and the Proposed National Land Use Act

I. Introduction

i. History of Land Use

According to The Environmental Literacy Council, land use describes the various
ways in which human beings make use of and manage the land and its resources. Since
time immemorial, humans have used land in various ways for their survival. Ancestral
humans are believed to have used and modified the land for shelter, gathering of food,
and defense. Land use have changed through the years, particularly during the time
when humans learned how to domesticate plants and animals, and have learned that
settling in one place is easier than their previous nomadic way of living. During this time,
land has been used extensively and more obvious changes could be observed in the
landscape. Population growth brought with it the rise of settlements and agriculture,
therefore causing an alteration in the existing land cover for food, power and
transportation.1

In the present, industrial areas can be found more in the suburbs rather than
close to the center of cities, while areas allocated to natural resource extraction and
production continue to be found on rural areas. Land use decisions have since moved
from the single farmer deciding where to plant his crops to a more integrated view of
land use planning, where both the owner and the state are involved.2

ii. Land Use Planning

Land use planning describes the rational and judicious approach of allocating
available land resources to different land use activities and for different functions
consistent with the overall development vision or goal of a particular city. In simpler
terms, it refers to the manner of utilization of land, including its allocation, development
and management.

1
The Environmental Literacy Council, Land Use, (2015)
2
Ibid

1
 In the Philippine Context, land use planning was first introduced through the idea
of town planning codified in ordinances which were promulgated by King Philip II, where
the guidelines for site selection, layout, and dimensions of squares and streets and other
land uses were provided. Likewise, in the effort of the Americans to guide the growth of
Manila and other cities and towns in the Philippines, master plans were done by famous
architects in the United States which gave emphasis to clearly articulated road systems,
better port facilities, and suburban zoning of residential and industrial locations. Later on,
sanitation, housing, and social development were included in the plans.3

According to the HLURB4, land use planning involves laws and policies, and
some of these are the following:

1) Executive Order No. 72 (Providing for the Preparation and Implementation of

the Comprehensive Land Use Plans of Local Government Units Pursuant to the
Local Government Code of 1991 and Other Pertinent Laws)

It provides for the preparation and implementation of the Comprehensive

Land Use Plans (CLUPs) of Local Government Units pursuant to the Local
Government Code of 1991 and other pertinent laws, as said in the title of the act.

2) Memorandum Circular No. 54 (Reclassification of Agricultural Land)

It prescribes the guidelines of Section 20 of the Republic Act No. 7160,

where it authorizes cities and/or municipalities to reclassify lands into non-
agricultural uses.

3) Executive Order No. 124 (Reorganizing the Ministry of Public Works and
Highways, Redefining Its Powers and Functions, and For Other Purposes)

It establishes priorities and procedures in evaluating areas for land

conversion in regional agricultural and/or industrial centers, tourism development
areas, and sites for social housing.

iii. Land Classification

3
Marife Magno-Ballesteros, Land Use Planning in Metro Manila and the Urban Fringe: Implications on the Land
and Real Estate Market, (PIDS, 2000), p11
4
HLURB, Land Use Planning, (GovPH, n.d.)

2
 With the establishment of the Land Use Policy Council (LUPC), land is classified
according to four uses:

a) Protection Land Use

This refers to the use of land primarily for rehabilitation, conservation, and
protection purpose, and the promotion of the country’s ecological and life support
system.5

b) Production Land Use

This refers to the direct and indirect utilization of land resources for crop,
fishery, livestock, and poultry production, agroforestry, mining, industry, energy
development, and tourism.6

c) Settlements Development

This refers to any improvement on existing settlements in urban or rural

areas or any proposed development of certain areas for settlement purposes
involving the spatial distribution of population, identification of roles and functions
of key urban center, determination of relationships among settlement areas, and
the provision of basic services and facilities to such settlement.7

d) Infrastructures Development

This refers to providing basic services and fostering economic and other
forms of integration necessary for producing or obtaining the material
requirements of Filipinos in an efficient, responsive, safe, and ecologically built
environment. This includes: transportation, communications, indigenous energy
exploration and development, water resources, and social infrastructure.8

iv. Proposed NLUA

This proposed national land use act covers the duty of the state to provide for a
rational, holistic, and just allocation, utilization, management, and development of the

5
National Land Use Act of the Philippines, (Seventeenth Congress, Republic of the Philippines, 2016), p 1
6
Ibid, p2
7
Ibid, p2
8
Ibid, p2

3
 country’s land resources to ensure their optimum use consistent with the principle of
sustainable development.9

II. Land Conversion Issue

i. What is Land Conversion?

Land use conversion is the act of changing the current use of an agricultural land
into non-agricultural use or for other agricultural use aside from the cultivation of soil,
planting of crops growing of trees, including the harvesting of produce, as approved by
the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR)10. Conversion is only allowed if: (1) the land
ceases to be economically feasible and sound for agricultural purposes, (2) the locality
has been urbanized, (3) land will have greater value for residential, commercial, or
industrial purposes, and (4) the applicant may either be a beneficiary or a landowner (for
retained area).11

Land use conversion is classified into two types: reversible and irreversible.
Reversible land use would mean that the land has not been extensively altered or
modified that the land can be converted back to its previous use. Irreversible land use,
on the other hand, is when a land has been altered and modified to the point that
converting it back to its previous land use would be physically impossible. Agricultural
land us to urban land use conversion is an example of an irreversible land use. Once an
agricultural land has been converted to urban use, it will be impossible to convert it back
to its previous use, and this affects not only the land, but also the people making use of
or living on it.

ii. Major Drivers of Land Conversion

The Philippines has roughly 30 million hectares of land, where 9.7 million are
designated or are considered to be for agricultural use. Rapid urbanization and
population growth are the major drivers of land conversion where the need to build more
housing for the influx of population and industrial buildings for employment, as well as
the need to spur economic growth and investments has led to the conversion of

9
Ibid, p1
10
DAR AO No. 1: 2002 Comprehensive Rules on Land Conversion, (DAR, 2002), section 2.12
11
Atty. Robert Anthony P. Yu, Conversion of Agricultural Land, (DAR)

4
 agricultural lands outside of Metro Manila into other uses in order to satisfy the needs
stated above12, as seen in Figure 1 in the Figures and Tables section of this document.

iii. Process of Land Conversion

The direct intervention of the government on land use has been mainly
implemented through a land development control system, where it requires that changes
in land uses and building of structures on land must pass through a system of permits
and licensing. Particularly, these permits and licenses are obtained on the basis of the
following planning regulations:

1. Land Use Control – Zoning

It is a requirement for all cities and municipalities in the country to provide

a comprehensive land use and zoning plan for each of their specific localities.
Land use zones are given labels such as “R” for residential districts, “C” for
commercial districts and “I” for industrial districts (see Figure 2). Zoning
restrictions in the country are mainly on land use and building height and there
are no minimum area restrictions.13

2. Environmental Controls – EIS

In 1977, the Philippine Environmental Policy was decreed through the

creation of the National Environment Protection Council (NEPC). In 1978, the
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) System was established under the
Presidential Decree No. 1586, which required all environmentally critical projects
and projects in environmentally critical areas to submit to the EIS in order for the
project to be critiques using the EIS’ guidelines to determine quality standards for
air, water, and land use. It also required the monitoring of land development
projects of both public and private institutions with regard to the effects of their
respective projects on the environment.14

iii. Economic, Social and Environmental Impacts of Land Conversion

12
Jinky Cabildo, Krixia Subingsubing, and Matthew Reysio-Cruz, Many farms lost to land conversion, (The Philippine
Inquirer, 2017)
13
Marife Magno-Ballesteros, Land Use Planning in Metro Manila and the Urban Fringe: Implications on the Land
and Real Estate Market, (PIDS, 2000), p15
14
Ibid, p16

5
 Land is one of the three major factors of production in classical
economics (along with labor and capital) and is an essential input for housing
and food production. Thus, land use is the backbone of agricultural economies
and it provides substantial economic and social benefits. Land use change is
necessary and essential for economic development and social progress.
However, conversion of land does not come without costs.15

a) Socioeconomic Impacts

Reduction of the amount of land for food and timber production

comes as a result of the conversion of farmland and forests to urban
development. Also, soil erosion, salinization, desertification, and other soil
degradations associated with intensive agriculture and deforestation
reduce the quality of land resources and future agricultural productivity. 16
An example of this is the degradation of soil in the lands of Africa, caused
about by the rapid growth of population in the continent, where the
farmers opted to skip the process of fallowing for faster crop production,
leading to barren and infertile soils.17

b) Environmental Impacts

Land use and land management practices provide major impacts

on the natural resources including soil, water, air, flora, and fauna. One of
the major sources of natural water pollution is the runoff from agricultural
lands. Irrigation has also caused the alteration of the water table in certain
areas. Conversion of agricultural lands to urban use would mean the
construction of factory buildings and other facilities, which causes air
pollution, urban runoff, and flooding.18

III. Real Life Examples

i. Cavite Agricultural Land Use Conversion

15
JunJie Wu, Land Use Changes: Economic, Social, and Environmental Impacts, (Choices, 2008)
16
Ibid
17
Meliton Juanico, The Geography of Africa
18
JunJie Wu, Land Use Changes: Economic, Social, and Environmental Impacts, (Choices, 2008)

6
 Land use conversion trend in Cavite shows the diminishing area of the
agricultural lands in the city (Figure 3). This is the result of the conversion of agricultural
land to urban use (residential and industrial use). The rise of these establishments has
been fueled by rapid urbanization, rapid population growth, and motives of private
corporations. Economic effects of this land conversion include the loss and shift of jobs
and the surge of industrial, commercial, and residential establishments in the city.
Citizens whose main source of living was farming and lost their jobs because of the
conversion was forced to find other means to support and feed their families. Some
farmers opted to become fishermen, tricycle drivers, or kagawad of their barangays in
order to have an income. The city currently has a total of 805 establishments, which
include BPOs, malls, house and lot developers, and industrial estates.19

IV. Relating the Issue to NLUA

i. Republic Act No. 6657, Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL) of 1988

CARL is an act signed by then president Corazon C. Aquino on June 10, 1988
which aims to promote social justice and industrialization.20 The comprehensive agrarian
reform program (CARP), which was based on the CARL, is the redistribution of public
and private agricultural lands to farmers and farmworkers who are landless, irrespective
of tenurial arrangement. CARP’s vision is to have an equitable land ownership with
empowered agrarian reform beneficiaries who can effectively manage their economic
and social development to have a better quality of life.21

Agrarian Reform means the redistribution of lands, regardless of crops or fruits

produced, to farmers and regular farmworkers who are landless, irrespective of tenurial
arrangement.22 With the conversion of agricultural lands to other uses, the area of land
which is supposed to be redistributed to the farmers is diminishing. The farming industry
will face a major crisis in the near future if this conversion continues to happen. If the
farming industry faces a slump, not only those in the agricultural sectors will be affected,
but also those who consume what the farmers produce.

19
Erwin Caluag, Monica Mendoza, Jhoana Mondez, Jonah Pagdanganan, Angelica Samia and Camille Yao, The
Economic Effects of Agricultural Land Conversion in the Philippines, (Geography 161 Report, 2017)
20
Department of Agrarian Reform, What is CARP?
21
Ibid
22
Ibid

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 ii. Chapter VI of Senate Bill No. 34, Agricultural Lands

According to Section 28 of SB No. 34, priority areas for agricultural development

are the CARP, CARPable areas, and the Network of Protected Areas for Agriculture and
Agro-Industrial Development (NPAAAD). Agricultural lands necessary for attaining food
self-sufficiency and food security are protected from conversion. But with cities and
municipalities aiming to follow the urbanization trend and catch up with the rest of the
world, the desire to convert these agricultural lands to urban use is very strong. Despite
the protection as stated from the NLUA, agricultural lands are little by little converted into
other uses. Land owners would argue that modern technology will make urban
agriculture possible (ex. Vertical agriculture), and even though this idea is feasible, those
who belong in the agricultural sector will be losing their main source of profit.

The rapid depletion of arable lands would mean that there are some who do not
follow the provisions as stated in the National Land Use Act. Proper land use planning
should keep in mind the provisions stated in Chapter VI of the bill in order to avoid the
further lessening of arable lands and protect the jobs of the farmers, also keeping in
mind the irreversibility of agricultural to urban land use conversion.

Land use conversion and land use planning comes hand in hand. Before
converting an agricultural land to other uses, planners should keep in mind the future
effects of this land conversion. The irreversibility of the conversion should also be taken
into account.

V. References

• Cabildo, Jink, Subingsubing, Krixia, and Reysio-Cruz, Matthew. “Many farms lost to land
conversion”. The Philippine Inquirer, 2017
• Caluag, Erwin, Monica Mendoza, Jhoana Mondez, Jonah Pagdanganan, Angelica
Samia, and Camille Yao. The Economic Effects of Agricultural Land Conversion in the
Philippines. Report. Department of Geography, University of the Philippines Diliman.
• Department of Agrarian Reform. “What is CARP?”
• "Land Use." The Environmental Literacy Council. Accessed October 31, 2017.
https://enviroliteracy.org/land-use/.
• "Land Use Planning." HLURB. Accessed November 01, 2017. http://hlurb.gov.ph/law-
issuances/land-use-planning/.

8
 • Magno-Ballesteros, Marife. “Land Use Planning in Metro Manila and the Urban Fringe:
Implications on the Land and Real Estate Market”. PIDS, 2000. 2000-20,p.11
• National Land Use Act of the Philippines
• Wu, JuJie. “Land Use Changes: Economic, Social, and Environmental Impacts”. Choices,
2008
• Yu, Robert Anthony P., “Conversion of Agricultural Land”. Report. Department of
Agrarian Reform

VI. Tables and Figures

Figure 1 Approved land conversion in hectares by province: 1988-2016 (Philippine Daily Inquirer)

9
Figure 2 Pattern of Land Use for Metro Manila

Figure 3 Cavite Trend in Agricultural Areas (Economic Report of Cavite, 2015)

10
 Revision Point Action Taken Location
Just use Philippine Context Deleted definition from foreign Pages 1-2
definition of Land Use Planning sources
Reduce length of introduction Deleted sentences deemed Page 1
irrelevant
Add irreversibility of agricultural Added in the land conversion Page 4
conversion to urban use section
Talk to the Cavite group for real Reviewed their report Pages 6-7
life examples
Discuss the whole Chapter 6 of Done Page 8
SB34 instead of just section 30
Find updated pattern of land use Was not able to find one, Page 11
for Metro Manila retained the current one I have

11