MANILA, Philippines—Taking a cue from the experts, Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman Tuesday ordered an immediate stop to the conversion of agricultural lands to real estate development in the face of a feared shortage in the supply of rice.

Pangandaman issued a memorandum imposing a moratorium on the processing and approval of applications for land use conversion (LUC) in the Department of Agrarian Reform central office in Quezon City and regional offices.

“You are hereby advised to temporarily suspend the processing and approval of all LUC applications,” he said in the memorandum addressed to Undersecretary Renato Herrera and regional directors.

Pangandaman imposed the moratorium to pave the way for the review and study of conversion guidelines to address “the unabated conversion of prime agricultural lands for real estate development.”

It was President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who had ordered the review.

“This moratorium on land conversion shall take effect immediately and shall remain in force until further notice,” Pangandaman said in the memorandum, a copy of which was obtained by the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).

Land inventory

Experts had blamed the dwindling rice lands, caused by the conversion of these lands into residential subdivisions and golf courses, for the shortage of rice supply in the market.

Officials of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) admitted that while rice production had been increasing, it could not catch up with the growing population.

Pangandaman confirmed to the Inquirer Tuesday night that he had issued the memorandum on the moratorium.

“This pertains to concerns over allegations that the conversion of lands into residential areas is contributing to the rice shortage,” he said on the phone.

The moratorium covers applications with the central office for the conversion of lands covering 5 hectares and more, and applications with the regional offices for the conversion of lands covering 5 ha and below, he said.

The DAR is still conducting an inventory of the lands being requested for conversion, he said.

Pangandaman said he imposed the moratorium pending the review of the conversion guidelines by the DAR in coordination with the Departments of Agriculture and of Environment and Natural Resources, and other line agencies.

“We should strike a balance [between] what should be converted and what should not be converted,” he said.

Pangandaman also said he was agreeable to developing lands into, for example, housing projects for soldiers, policemen and teachers.

“Government projects should not be sacrificed,” he said, adding that converting lands into leisure parks or golf courses was another matter.

Collegial decision

Pangandaman said he would seek a meeting next week with the housing czar, Vice President Noli de Castro, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, Environment Secretary Lito Atienza, local government officials and officials of the National Irrigation Administration and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, among others, to start the review.

“We’ll ... look at what can be done. We’ll come up with a collegial decision on this,” he said.