Sec. Yap urges Congress to immediately ratify Land Use Act

published in Leyte Samar Daily Express October 23, 2008

ORMOC CITY — Agriculture Secretary Arthur has issued an appeal to the Congress for the immediate passage of Land Use Act that would help in identifying areas that will be planted with biofuel crops to beef up the country’s biofuel self sufficiency.

In his recent visit to this city, Yap stressed that there must be an implementation of the law that would help them in their bid to convert millions of hectares of underutilized or idle lands that will be planted with jathropa, cassava and sugar.

“I appeal to the Congress that this is something that they must prioritize. If this law is implemented, that will help us identify areas that can be converted into cultivation of biofuel crops,” he said.

Early this year, the House of Representatives, the Department of Interior and Local Government and the University of the Philippines have agreed to join forces to work for the ultimate enactment of a Land Use Code, which will serve as a guide for the judicious and appropriate utilization of the country’s land resources.

The law will recognize lands for protection, production, settlements development, and Infrastructure development.

Initially, the agriculture department pinpointed some two million hectares of land in the country that will be devoted for biofuel production. Most of these are public lands of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Yap said that this proposed action is urgent considering that “biofuel has the real possibility to modernize the country’s agriculture.” Just like what’s happening in Brazil, biofuel stocks are local and their cars are using 100% biofuel.”

According to him, the country is only 50% sufficient of alternative fuel. The Biofuels Act of 2006 mandates a five-percent ethanol blend in gasoline by 2009 and a 10-percent blend by 2011.

Philippine Agricultural Development and Commercial Corporation (PADCC) President Marriz Agbon said in an interview with Leyte Samar Daily Express that starting 2009, the country will have a 230 million liters requirement of biofuel.

Currently, only the Leyte Agriculture Corporation in this city is the lone distillation plant in the country that produces bio-ethanol. The firm with a capacity to produce 300,000 liters monthly, processes sugarcane molasses into a biofuel.

“We encourage sugar millers to put up distillation facilities so that they can produce ethanol. There’s a big potential of this industry in the country because we have an excess supply of sugar and the price is not as good as before,” Agbon said. (Sarwell Q. Meniano)