MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives approved on third and final reading a priority bill to allow foreign investors to lease private land in the country for 99 years instead of the current limit of 50 years.
House Bill 10755, which is an amendment of Republic Act 7652 or the Investors’ Lease Act, passed the lower chamber with 175 voting in favor, three voting against, and two abstaining.
It is one of the bills listed as top priority by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) for the 19th Congress. It seeks to attract more foreign investments into the country.
“We hope it would attract new foreign investments and encourage existing investors to expand their businesses, thereby creating more job and income opportunities for our people and sustaining our economic growth,” House Speaker Martin Romualdez said in a statement.
The lower chamber amended Section 4 of the existing measure, which specified the coverage for the leasing of private lands by foreign investors to a maximum of 99 years. However, the bill requires that the lease be used solely for investment purposes.
Other requirements include:
- The leased area for investment purposes should be subject to the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law and Local Government Code.
- The foreign investor should have an approved and registered investment under the Foreign Investments Act of 1991.
- The Department of Trade and Industry’s Board of Investments and/or the investment promotion agency should also approve the lease agreements.
It also inserted a definition for “private lands,” to refer to areas that are separated from identified public land and those granted to individuals by the government.
However, it also includes “patrimonial properties” that are owned or managed by the state as defined under the CREATE Act.
The proposed legislation also seeks to increase the penalty for committing listed prohibited acts to a fine ranging from P1 million to P10 million, instead of the existing P100,000 to P1 million.
‘Free and monopolizing use’ of Philippine land
Opposing the bill, Rep. Arlene Brosas (Gabriela Women’s Party) of the Makabayan bloc argued that extending the land lease coverage for foreign investors exceeds even the global average life expectancy of 73 years.
“[It] is a clear manifestation of how our current government continues to prioritize foreigners’ and big businesses’ and corporations’ interests over our local farmers and workers, over our genuine economic development,” she said in a statement.
Even if the bill only allows foreign investors to rent or lease land, and not own which violates the Constitution, Brosas said that the bill “clearly paves way for the free and monopolizing use and control of foreigners” over Philippine land for a long period covering different generations.
“Sa papel, umuupa ka lang, pero may karapatan kang gamitin, kontrolin, at ngayon ay paupahan na rin ang lupa ng Pilipinas sa loob ng 99 years,” she stressed.
(On paper, you are just a tenant, but you have the right to use, control, and now even lease the land of the Philippines for 99 years.)
Brosas also criticized the “vague and loose definition” of private lands, saying that it also encompasses properties awarded to agrarian reform beneficiaries. This is detrimental to the country’s farmers, she said.
“It fails to clearly demarcate and draw the line between private and public lands, and it contains a loophole that permits foreign investors’ prolonged leasing of agricultural lands awarded to our common Filipino farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries,” she added.
The Makabayan lawmaker urged Congress to prioritize the proposed bill for a genuine agrarian reform program.