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MEMBERS
of militant fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng
Kilusang Mamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on
Thursday assailed members of the House of
Representatives for the approval of two bills allowing
the conversion of farmlands for ecotourism projects.
Pamalakaya national chairman Fernando Hicap, who is in
Masbate City Thursday as the main guest speaker in the
celebration of International Labor Day, slammed the
approval of House Bill (HB) 453 and HB 1109 on third and
final reading.
“These
bills are worthy of national condemnation. These are
shotgun pieces of legislation that would destroy
practically everything like livelihood, environment and
food security,” Hicap told a jam-packed crowd of not
less than 15,000 militants who attended the Labor Day
rally in
Masbate
City.
“HB 453
and HB 1109 are the types of legislative products this
changed and reformed House of Representatives under
House Speaker Prospero Nograles has to offer to the
public. This is highly inflammatory and totally
revolting in the highest order,” he said.
House
Bill 453 allows the conversion of land belonging to
public domain on small islands with the size of 50,000
hectares or less to ecotourism ventures such as resorts,
eco-theme parks and hotels, while House Bill 1109 is a
related measure declaring land on
Boracay Island
as agricultural open to disposition for agricultural,
residential, commercial and industrial purposes.
Pamalakaya said HBl 435 and HB 1109 if passed into law
will legalize the conversions of public domain,
including agricultural lands and coastal areas into
ecotourism projects.
The
bills on conversion, if approved, will remove all legal
impediments against widespread conversion of farmlands
and coastal areas, and will speed up pending conversion
projects currently facing resistance from farmers and
fisherfolk communities, the group said.
Hicap
cited several cases in Southern Tagalog where small
fishermen are encountering problems arising from
conversion of farmlands and coastal areas for ecotourism
purposes.
Hicap
said small fishermen and farmers in the 10,000-hectare
Hacienda Looc in Nasugbu, Batangas, are facing renewed
threats of demolition because of the plan of business
tycoon Henry Sy of SM Investment Group to convert the
area into a world-class ecotourism destination in
Asia.
Pamalakaya said the Metro Taal-Tagaytay Project
involving several coastal towns that surround Taal
Volcano are also facing threats of eviction because of
the plan of the national government to transform the
world’s wonder into a full-blast ecotourist destination.
Hicap
said around 14,000 fisherfolk families in Taal Lake will
be displaced once the grand eco-tourism project in Taal
goes into full blast.
In
Cavite Pamalakaya said the plan to construct a
superhighway from National Capital Region to Cavite
City, and from Cavite City, to Nasugbu, Batangas, will
trigger the demolitions of no less than 25,000 houses
belonging to fisherfolk families along the coastal
shores of Manila Bay to pave way for ecotourism and
super- highway projects.
In
Laguna Lake the plan to transform the Asia’s
second-largest lake into commercial, industrial and
ecotourism hub will immediately demolish over 50,000
fisherfolk and urban-poor residents in Taguig, Pasig,
Cainta and Muntinlupa, and in the coastal tows of
Calamba, Sta. Cruz and Bay in Laguna province, Hicap
said. |
