Board Member Tiu supports HB 4626

TACLOBAN CITY – Leyte Board Member and committee chair on environment and natural resources Roque Tiu, said that he supports proposed House Bill 4626 of Rep. Juan Ponce Enrile, Jr. that aims for the country to attain food sufficiency and security.

Enrile was in the province for a dialogue with farmers organizations in Leyte regarding his proposed bill which aims to establish a national food requirement plan wherein all provinces would have a food requirement assessment to determine the needs of the people.

Aside from free irrigation program for farmers, increase subsidy on seeds and fertilizers, ensure farm inputs, and establishment of anti-smuggling task force for the Department of Agriculture (DA) another salient feature of the law is the non-conversion of land to other purpose particularly on agricultural lands that had long been targets of conversion by some investors, converting them for residential, commercial, industrial and for mining use which is very important, according to Tiu.

“When I heard about this proposed bill of Rep. Enrile, I felt glad about it because this supports the food production program of the provincial government and answers the cry of our constituents begging the government not to touch and allow mining companies to let agricultural lands be converted into other use,” Tiu said.

Several agricultural lands in Leyte have been converted into mining sites, resulting to a reduced palay production.

One of these areas is in MacArthur town where there are three mining firms that are conducting their mining operations.

“This really affects our food production and our food security,” Tiu stressed.

To show his support, Tiu said that in their next regular session, he will submit a resolution in behalf of the province of Leyte supporting the bill of Enrile.

Moreover, even the President had already made a statement supporting large-scale mining, Tiu said, that operation of these mining firms should be check first whether their operation has no detrimental effect on the environment and damages projects that are funded by the government.

“There should be safety nets for large-scale mining; they should assure that no places or projects are to be affected while their operation is on-going,” Tiu said.