Farmers’ group: Robredo ‘using housing problem to protect real estate interests’

A militant farmers' group has criticized Vice President Leni Robredo for opposing the proposed two-year ban on conversion of agricultural lands for other purposes.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said Robredo, chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), "is using the so-called housing problem" to protect the interest of real estate firms. 

"Robredo is not at all concerned with the state of the homeless. She is protecting the business interests of real estate firms that are constructing overpriced, substandard, and corruption-riddled housing units in government resettlement sites," KMP secretary general Antonio Flores said.

Flores also alleged that Robredo "is pretending to protect the homeless, but her stance against land conversion is actually in chorus with the position of foreign chambers of commerce."

GMA News Online has sought Robredo's office for comment but as of posting time, the Vice President's camp has yet to reply on the matter.

The Vice President was among officials who signed a petition urging President Rodrigo Duterte not to sign an executive order on the land conversion ban.

The petition was initiated by the HUDCC, along with the Departments of Finance (DOF) and Budget and Management (DBM), and the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).

Robredo said the two-year moratorium will hurt the homeless by introducing "further delays in the housing and resettlement processes" and addressing the estimated 5.7-million housing backlog the government is looking to address. 

Data from the HUDCC showed that the backlog includes need for "immediate housing intervention" for at least 1.5 million informal settler families and some 1.8 million families who lost their homes to natural disasters between 2009 and 2014.

"By unnecessarily locking up the land resources for two years, including those that were already identified as suitable for socialized housing, this will make our mission far more difficult in solving the growing problem of homelessness," Robredo said.

"Even as we move to reinvigorate the country’s agri sector, we hope that the steps we take will not hurt the homeless and prolong the agony of the families waiting for supportive housing," she added.

But the KMP said government housing projects "can be built on non-agricultural lands," adding that it "is plain senseless to pit the people's right to housing and shelter with the right to food."

The group earlier slammed NEDA and its director general, Socioeconomic Planning Sec. Ernesto Pernia, for joining in the said petition. — Rose-An Jessica Dioquino/RSJ, GMA News