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Some Alyansa candidates are categorically for the land use bill, but to what extent can they to push for it when their co-slate member comes from a family with a history of being cold to the proposed legislation?
MANILA, Philippines – The senatorial bets of Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas have promised to support the land use bill if they get elected to the upper chamber, but how can they ensure that it’s not mere lip service if there’s a Villar on their slate?
We posed the question to the candidates on Saturday, March 22, ahead of their campaign rally in Santa Rosa, Laguna, after aspirants stressed the need for a land use measure in light of the increasing number of subdivisions in the province, which in effect has weakened its production of local crops.
Land use measures, which would limit developers’ capacity to use land for housing projects, have languished in Congress, and the Senate environment committee, led by Senator Cynthia Villar since 2016, has not taken up the issue.
Deputy Speaker Camille Villar is part of the Alyansa slate, but she was not present during Saturday’s press conference. The Villar family has massive real estate business interests.
Senator Panfilo Lacson quipped that if elected, he would support co-Alyansa member ACT-CIS Representative Erwin Tulfo for the chairmanship of the Senate environment committee in the 20th Congress.
“Alam mo naman nagkaroon na ng problema ang utol ko diyan (You know my brother got into trouble for that),” Tulfo said in jest, perhaps referring to a heated debate between Senator Raffy Tulfo and Senator Villar in 2022, over the issue of converting farmlands into subdivisions.
“We have to solve this problem. Otherwise, it will go on and on. We have to pass the land use act,” Tulfo said.
Watch the senatorial candidates’ response in this video. – Rappler.com
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