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Zubiri seeks Villar backing for National Land Use Act

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Rowegie Abanto, ABS-CBN News

<p>CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Friday said he is seeking the backing of Sen. Cynthia Villar to pass a<a href="https://legacy.senate.gov.ph/lisdata/3838334837!.pdf"> National Land Use Act</a>, which has been pending in Congress for over 2 decades. </p><p>“We have to convince them that it is necessary to finally come up with the National Land Use Act,” Zubiri said in a multistakeholder forum here conducted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). </p><p>&quot;Why? Kasi (Because) we will be able to delineate what is for forest land, what is for housing, what is for industrial parks, and for agriculture.&quot;</p><p>The National Land Use Act creates a national land-use authority that will draft and oversee a national land-use plan that will classify land according to use: protection (for conservation), production (for agriculture and fisheries), settlements development (for residential purposes), and infrastructure development (for transportation, communication, water resources, social infrastructure).</p><p>Zubiri said he will ask Villar, who chairs the Senate’s committee on environment, natural resources, and climate change, to &quot;finally put it to the floor and start with the discussions.&quot; </p><p>The proposed law is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWYFJB3aYj4">one of President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr&#x27;s priority bills</a>. Zubiri said Marcos &quot;made a hard push&quot; for the passage of the National Land Use Act during a recent meeting with House Speaker Martin Romualdez.</p><p>The Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Mindanao is holding its third and final leg of a series of consultations with the academe, NGOs, and private groups that started last year, in a bid to come up with a &quot;foundation&quot; for fresh environment resilience policies.</p><p>One of the goals of the bill is the protection of agricultural lands for food production activities, with the completion of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program being the &quot;highest priority.&quot;</p><p>Villar earlier expressed her disagreement with the National Land Use Act when she and Sen. Raffy Tulfo had a heated back and forth during the Senate&#x27;s deliberation on the Department of Agriculture&#x27;s proposed 2023 budget in November last year.</p><p>Tulfo, at the time, pointed out the shrinking farmlands converted by developers into commercial and residential lands. </p><p>Villar defended her family&#x27;s business, saying they don&#x27;t buy agricultural land in the provinces. &quot;We limit ourselves in cities and capital towns,&quot; she said.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/17/22/tulfo-villar-clash-over-farm-to-subdivision-issue-rice-tariffication">Tulfo vs Villar: Senators clash over &#x27;farm to subdivision&#x27; scheme, rice tariffication law</a></li></ul><div><strong>—with a report from Jauhn Etienne Villaruel, ABS-CBN News</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2447002" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Friday renewed his push for the passage of the National Land Use Act.

Zubiri seeks Villar backing for National Land Use Act

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Zubiri seeks Villar backing for National Land Use Act

Rowegie Abanto,

ABS-CBN News

Published Feb 03, 2023 01:05 PM PHT

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National Land Use Act

Juan Miguel Zubiri

Cynthia Villar

Cagayan de Oro

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