The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on third and final reading a measure prohibiting the conversion or causing the conversion of irrigated and irrigable lands.
Voting 188-0, lawmakers approved House Bill (HB) 7115, which aims to address the threats to the country’s food security.
The bill amends the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988 (CARL), or Republic Act (RA) 6657. It is included in the priority measures of the 17th Congress. HB 7115 seeks to penalize the conversion or causing the conversion of irrigated and irrigable lands.
The bill defines irrigated lands as “lands serviced by natural irrigation or irrigation facilities, as delineated by the Department of Agriculture [DA] or the National Irrigation Administration [NIA] which includes lands where water is not readily available as existing irrigation facilities need rehabilitation or upgrading, or where irrigation water is not available year-round.”
Irrigable lands are those lands “suitable for the conduct of agricultural activities which require irrigation and display physical features justifying the operation of an irrigation system.”
Under the bill, actual physical or legal conversion or causing the physical or legal conversion of irrigated and irrigable lands are committed by the following: 1) any person who directly and indirectly participates in the conversion of irrigated and irrigable land; 2) any person who directly or indirectly induces the landowner or farmworker in the conversion of irrigated and irrigable land; 3) any person who applies for and facilitates the application for conversion; 4) any person who facilitates the application and issuance of clearances and other documents necessary for conversion; 5) any person who approves and cause for the approval of the application for conversion; and 6) any person who directly and indirectly benefited from the conversion.
The bill amends Section 74 of RA 6657 so that any person who knowingly or willfully violates the provisions of the Act shall be punished by imprisonment of one month to three years or a fine of P1,000 to P15,000, or both, at the discretion of the court.