DEBATE THEME: E C O N O M I C S

MOTION: Transformation of agricultural land into commercial land bring Positive impact to the
economy
-----------------------------------------------------A F F I R M A T I V E S--------------------------------------------------
1. Conversion of Land

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6657 “AN ACT INSTITUTING A COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN

REFORM PROGRAM TO PROMOTE SOCIAL JUSTICE AND INDUSTRIALIZATION,
PROVIDING THE MECHANISM FOR ITS IMPLEMENTATION, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES”

SECTION 65. Conversion of Lands. – After the lapse of five (5) years from its award, when the
land ceases to be economically feasible and sound for agricultural purposes, or the locality
has become urbanized and the land will have a greater economic value for residential,
commercial or industrial purposes, the DAR, upon application of the beneficiary or the
landowner, with due notice to the affected parties, and subject to existing laws, may authorize
the reclassification or conversion of the land and its disposition: Provided, That the beneficiary
shall have fully paid his obligation.

https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1988/06/10/republic-act-no-6657/

2. Gross Domestic Product Contribution

“The Philippine Gross Domestic Product (GDP) posted an average of 7.4 percent growth in the
second half of 2021, resulting in 5.6 percent full-year growth in 2021. Some of the main
contributors to the growth with their corresponding increases were: construction, 26.6
percent; and manufacturing 14.9 percent. Meanwhile, agriculture, forestry, and fishing posted
a contraction of -0.3 percent.”
https://psa.gov.ph/foreign-investments/technical-notes
3. Build Build Build (BBB) Program Implementation

The Build! Build! Build! (BBB) Program is the centerpiece program of the Duterte

administration that aims to usher the “Golden age of infrastructure” in the Philippines. Lack of
infrastructure has long been cited as the “Achilles’ heel” of Philippine economic development.

The BBB Program seeks to accelerate public infrastructure expenditure from an average of
2.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP ) during the Aquino regime to about 7.3 percent
at the end of the Duterte administration. This will cost around P8 trillion to P9 trillion from 2016
to 2022 to address the huge infrastructure backlog in the country.

Authorities are optimistic for the implementation of most infrastructure projects proposed under
the government’s "Build, Build, Build" program after noting the project’s long-term impact on
the economy.

In a virtual briefing hosted by the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) on

Tuesday, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Emil K. Sadain
said 18 of the 112 infrastructure flagship projects (IFPs) would be completed by June this
year, or at the end of the Duterte administration.
He said 12 additional projects are targeted to be completed by end-2022 while 89 are
scheduled for implementation by 2023 and be completed in the next six years.

These projects cost around PHP6.65 trillion and have an investment requirement of around
PHP3.12 trillion.

Amidst the economic recession being experienced by the Philippines and the world at large
caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, infrastructure development through the “Build Build Build”
(BBB) program of the Duterte administration is said to be one of the key drivers if not the main
driver of the economic recovery of the country. 
The “BBB” program is anchored on Duterte’s long-time conviction and advocacy for a more
balanced and responsive regional/countryside development for the country. He stressed that
the only solution to address the worsening congestion and traffic situation in Metro Manila and
the skewed development favouring Metro Manila and the traditional urban centres of the
country is through the dispersion of economic activities. And this is the compelling reason why
his administration is accelerating infrastructure development before his term ends even during
the current COVID-19 pandemic. 
The “BBB” program consists of around 20,000 infrastructure projects nationwide, involving
roads, highways, farm-to-market roads, airports, seaports, terminals, evacuation centres,
lighthouses, hospitals, schools, government centres, and the like. It is the centrepiece and one
of the top-priority programs of the Duterte administration, which has been allocated a budget of
around PHP 8 trillion (US$164.7 billion) for a six-year period (2017-2022). Such budget
allocation on infrastructure is thus far the highest in Philippine history to date.  
Over the past six administrations, the country’s infrastructure spending-to-Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) ratio only averaged at 2.6 percent of GDP. To note, from 2001 to 2010, the
average percentage of infrastructure budget to GDP was 1.6 percent or PHP 100.3 billion
(US$2.06 billion), while from 2011-2016 it was 3.0 percent or PHP 378.3 billion (US$7.7
billion). 
When Duterte took office in July 2016, his administration reversed this “long-neglect” in
infrastructure investment. To cite, from 2017 to 2019, the average percentage of infrastructure
budget to GDP was 6.0 percent or PHP 932 billion (US$19.1 billion). In 2020 the budget
allocation for the “BBB” program was 4.6 percent of GDP or PHP 972.5 billion (US$20 billion).
Hence, these numbers indicate a far more augmented budget for infrastructure development
compared to the previous administration; illustrating the fervent resolve of the Duterte
administration to not only accelerate infrastructure development but to deliver the much-
needed infrastructure projects to bridge the infrastructure gap in the country. 
Presidential Adviser for Flagship Programs Vivencio Dizon during the joint Development
Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) press conference a month ago said, “We have not
only continued with “BBB” and our flagship projects, but we will also further intensify this to
serve as a major driver in our recovery for the coming months.” 
He further reiterated that infrastructure projects under the “BBB” program will help in
the recovery of the economy that shrank for the second consecutive quarter and fuel
economic growth in the coming months. 
Based on DPWH data, it is estimated that the “BBB” program had created five million jobs
from 2016 to 2019. It is estimated that it will generate more than 1.5 million jobs this year
despite the pandemic. This to some extent, will help in stabilising and boosting economic
activity in the country.
Despite the lockdown and quarantine measures in the past few months due to the COVID-19
pandemic, a number of flagship infrastructure projects were completed . These include (1)
the Angat Water Transmission Improvement Project; (2) the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union
Expressway Rosario Exit; (3) the newly opened four-lane Sorsogon City Coastal Road; (4)
New Clark City [Phase 1A]; (5) Harbor Link; (6) Sangley Airport; (7) Broadband project with
Facebook [Luzon Bypass Infrastructure]; (8) Bohol-Panglao International Airport; (9) Laguna
Lake Highway; (10) Cagayan de Oro Port, the country’s biggest passenger terminal port; (11)
TPLEX Rosario; (12) TPLEX Pozorrubio; (13) New World-Class Terminal in Mactan-Cebu
International Airport; (14) Lal-lo International Airport; and (15) Puerto Princesa International
Airport. 
Likewise, infrastructure developments for the domestic airports of Virac, Marinduque,
Tuguegarao, San Vicente, and Busuanga in Luzon; Maasin, Tacloban, and Catarman in the
Visayas; and Ipil, Camiguin, and Siargao in Mindanao, have also been completed. 
In more than four years since the “BBB” program was launched in 2017, it has already built
roads, bridges, classrooms, and flood control facilities among others, that to a considerable
extent, have improved the lives of many Filipinos. To note, the “BBB” program was able to
complete around 121 airport projects – 114 are ongoing and 75 are for procurement; 369
commercial, social, and tourism seaports – 108 are still in the process of completion;
23,657 kilometres of roads; and 4,959 bridges.  
Since the end of 2019, the “BBB” program was also able to complete 71,803 classrooms
across the country that has benefited more than 3.2 million students. A total of 4,536 flood
mitigation structures were also completed to expand protected flood-prone areas across the
country, while 82 evacuation centres were built by the DPWH in 52 provinces while 55 more
are underway. 
The construction of six railway projects is also underway, while additional railway projects are
also in the pipeline. Once all the railway projects are completed, the number of stations across
all railway systems will increase to 169 from 59, the number of trains to 1,425 from 221, and
daily ridership to 3.26 million from 1.02 million. The international airports in Davao, General
Santos, Zamboanga, Iloilo, Kalibo, and Laoag are also undergoing improvements.
The delivery and completion of “BBB” projects within the target timeframe under the current
administration will not only steer and drive economic recovery of the country amid the
pandemic and in the post-pandemic era, but will to some degree enhance, improve and further
develop land, air, sea, and inter-island connectivity and mobility in the country. 
This will also facilitate balanced development and to a greater extent diffuse economic
activities and development from the urban centres of the country toward rural areas or the
countryside. The transport-related infrastructure projects will not only ease traffic and road
congestion in the National Capital Region (NCR) and other traditional urban areas like Metro
Davao and Metro Cebu but will also facilitate the transporting of people and goods from one
place/island to another. 
The completion of all these infrastructure projects, in the long run, would not only to a greater
extent, sustain, accelerate, and achieve the desired economic growth of the country but most
importantly, will improve the Philippines’ global competitiveness. 

Real Estate refers to the land and all those items which are attached to the land. It is the
physical, tangible entity, together with the additions or improvements on, above or below the
ground while Real Estate
 Development Projects means the development of land for residential, commercial, industrial,
agricultural, institutional or recreational purposes, or any combination of such including, but not
limited to, tourist resorts, reclamation projects, building or housing projects, whether for
individual or condominium ownership, memorial parks and others of similar nature.

Real Estate, Renting and Business Activities was among the main drivers of GDP growth for
the 4Q of 2017 of the country, together with Manufacturing and Trade. The Philippines’ Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) posted a 6.6% growth in the 4th quarter of 2017, driving the
economy to grow by 6.7 percent for the entire year of 2017

The Real Estate industry contributed a total of 3.2% to the country’s 2017 GDP.
Comparatively, an increase of 12% was posted by the industry with respect to the 2016 values,
at current prices.

It is seen that the massive thrust of the government in building crucial infrastructure projects
through its Build Build Build (BBB) Program, to usher the “Golden Age of Infrastructure” in the
Philippines, is a major contributor of dispersing property developments not just in major urban
areas but also in its peripheries.

https://boi.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Real-Estate-January-2018.pdf

https://theaseanpost.com/article/can-dutertes-build-build-build-boost-philippines-economy1

https://scad.gov.ph/build-build-build/#:~:text=The%20Build!-,Build!,heel”%20of%20Philippine
%20economic%20development.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1167337
https://theaseanpost.com/article/build-build-build-program-amid-pandemic
4. Public-Private Partnership
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7718 “AN ACT AMENDING CERTAIN SECTIONS OF REPUBLIC ACT
NO. 6957, ENTITLED “AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE FINANCING, CONSTRUCTION,
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS BY THE PRIVATE
SECTOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES”

Section 20, Article II of the 1987 Philippine Constitution provides that “The State recognizes
the indispensable role of the private sector, encourages private enterprise, and provides
incentives to needed investments.”

In recognition of this role in sustainable development, Congress enacted two primary laws to
implement the same: Republic Act No. 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA
9184) for the procurement of goods, supplies and services, and Republic Act No. 6957 as
amended by Republic Act No. 7718 or the Philippine Build-Operate-and-Transfer (BOT) law which
provided a more focused framework in PPP infrastructure development.

The enactment of RA 6957 allowed Local Government Units (LGUs) to enter into contractual
arrangements with the private sector to implement infrastructure projects through two variants
– Build-Operate-and-Transfer (BOT) and Build-Transfer-and-Operate (BTO).
 RA 7718 enhances the provision of RA 6957 by broadening the list of PPP government
implementing agencies such as government owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs),
government financing institutions (GFIs) and state universities and colleges (SUCs); putting in
place incentives for attracting private sector investments to venture into PPP projects; and
allowing negotiated unsolicited proposals provided that these comply with conditions outlined
in the law. More importantly, RA 7718 provided for the inclusion of other contractual
arrangements or schemes to implement PPP projects.

As provided in the amended BOT law and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR),
collaborative partnerships between the government and the private sector can be made
possible through a broad spectrum of modalities. The BOT law identifies a number of variants
and includes a catch all provision for other variants that may be identified later. However
project implemented using new variants are subject to the approval of the President of the
Philippines.

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1. Nature Conservation
Encompassing over 7,000 islands, the Philippines’ large landscapes and long coastlines hold
some of the world’s richest terrestrial, coastal and marine environments. An agricultural
country with a land area of 30 million hectares, 47% of which is agricultural land.

It is also one of the world’s 17 mega-biodiverse countries, featuring more than 20,000 species
of plants and animals found nowhere else in the world.

These natural resources, which stretch 2.2 million square kilometres (849,425 square miles),
are of critical importance. They provide food, fresh water, livelihoods and climate resilience to
more than 100 million Filipinos. In fact, it is estimated that biodiversity contributes around 5%
of the Philippines' gross domestic product and supports livelihoods for nearly 15% of the
country’s labor force.

The forests and oceans of the Philippines sequester vast amounts of carbon — playing a
significant role in the global solution to climate change. Regionally, the Philippines is a part of
the Coral Triangle, a transboundary seascape which more than 130 million people from five
nations rely upon.

In recent times, accelerating development has led to increasing pressures on nature.

Population growth, weak land use planning, industrialization and unsustainable land and sea
use have taken a toll on its natural resources, while erratic storms have ravaged its coasts.

Deforestation and forest degradation are the most important land use change processes in the
Philippines. These processes are an important threat to the highly rated biodiversity of the
country. Only a small fraction of the natural forest that once covered the country
remains. In spite of different policies that aim to reduce logging recent commercial
deforestation, illegal logging and agricultural expansion pose an important threat to the
remaining forest areas.

A settlement with the farmers in 2014 allowed the two companies to get the Department of
Agrarian Reform (DAR) to approve the conversion of the property to nonagricultural use
on May 29, 2016, the waning days of the Aquino administration.
 As a result, the island is now being developed into a commercial and tourism hot spot of
hotels, malls and residences, complete with a 1.2-kilometer airstrip.

Sicogon is just one example of converted agricultural lands that have since been turned into
bustling hubs of activity, whether they be for residential, commercial, industrial or institutional
purposes.
Between 1988, when the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL) took effect, and 2016,
a total of 97,592.5 hectares of agricultural land—the size of Metro Manila and Cebu City—were
approved for conversion to nonagricultural purposes, according to the DAR.

The rampant conversion of prime agricultural land, partly driven by rapid urbanization,
population growth and speculation, has led to conflicting land uses.

The DAR hopes to address the problem when it proposed a two-year ban on the processing of
applications for land conversions last September.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/876377/many-farms-lost-to-land-conversion

https://www.conservation.org/philippines

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/
S0143622805000536#:~:text=Deforestation%20and%20forest%20degradation%20are,once
%20covered%20the%20country%20remains.

2. Decrease in Agricultural Production

As an agricultural country, the Philippines is in the best position to have an agriculture-driven

economy. As stated by Agriculture Secretary Dar:
 “We believe that economic growth in agriculture is more effective at reducing poverty and food
insecurity than growth in other sectors.”

The continuing urbanization and industrialization in the Philippines have resulted to the
continual decline in productive agricultural land.

This was brought about by the massive conversion of agricultural lands to industrial,
commercial and residential purposes
The continuing urbanization and industrialization of the provinces nearby Metropolitan Manila
and other cities of the Philippines have resulted to the continual decline in productive
agricultural land. This was brought about by the massive conversion of agricultural lands to
industrial, commercial and residential purposes. In Laguna alone, rice area decreased by more
than 50 percent from 1971 to 1992. This was accompanied by a corresponding annual
decrease in rice production of about 21 percent. Similar situation occurred in Bulacan but of
smaller magnitude. Agricultural lands converted to purposes mentioned above are formerly
planted to crops like rice, sugarcane and coconut. For the last five years, almost 30 percent of
total land converted to other purposes were concentrated in the two provinces of Laguna and
Bulacan. This study was therefore undertaken with the objective of quantifying the effect of
land use conversion to agricultural production with particular emphasis on rice.
In 2021, value of production in agriculture and fisheries at constant 2018 prices decreased by
-6.8 percent. This was due to the drop in crops, decline in livestock, and fisheries production.
Meanwhile, production increments were noted for crops and poultry.
https://psa.gov.ph/tags/performance-philippine-agriculture
https://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=PH9611141

3. Pandemic Outbreak-Finance
The “BBB” program has encountered some setbacks following the COVID-19 pandemic. One
of the impacts was the realignment of part of the “BBB” budget to finance the government’s
response to the health and socio-economic crises in the country. 
For instance, the 2020 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), one
of the main implementing agencies of the “BBB” program, was sliced to fund dole-outs and
medical response costing around PHP 121.9 billion (US$2.5 billion) leaving it with a much-
lowered infrastructure program spending budget for 2020 at around PHP 458.9 billion (US$9.4
billion) down from PHP 580.9 billion (US$11.9 billion). 
Also, the Department of Transportation (DOTr), another main implementing agency of “BBB”
projects suffered a budget cut of around PHP 8.8 billion (US$181.2 million) from its original
budget of around PHP147 billion (US$3.02 billion) this year. 
However, despite budget cuts in public spending on infrastructure projects, the government
has reprioritised the infrastructure program and retained 92 flagship projects amounting to
around PHP 4.1 trillion (US$84.4 billion) in value.  
Although eight projects were cut from the list of infrastructure priority projects, 13 more were
added aimed at intensifying internet connectivity, organising water supply, and enhancing
transportation, health care systems, and the digital economy in the country; including a
Virology Institute in New Clark City to prepare for the next pandemic. The added infrastructure
projects are said to be ready for implementation and are indeed responsive to the country’s
post-pandemic needs. 
4. Employment rate
In fact, the Philippine Statistics Authority found that agricultural employment accounts for 24.3%
of the total employment in the country in 2018. This means that 9,998,000 million Filipinos
have jobs in agriculture.

https://pearlpay.com/the-role-of-agriculture-rebooting-the-philippine-economy/