THE HEADS of the Provincial Agrarian Reform Coordinating Committees (PARCCOMs) have been ordered to be vigilant and report cases of illegal land conversions. “Report illegal land conversions in your areas,” Secretary Rosalina L. Bistoyong, officer-in-charge of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) told the PARCCOM chairpersons during the three-day 2017 national assessment held in Cebu City. Ms. Bistoyong, who chairs the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council Executive Committee (PARC Excom), said the illegal conversion of agricultural lands to commercial and others use has affected the country’s food production. “Because of massive illegal conversion, we are now having problems on food security. Agricultural lands are decreasing so fewer lands are farmed for food production and livestock raising,” she said. Ms. Bistoyong also stressed the need for government agencies — including DAR, Department of Agriculture, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board — along with local government units to streamline procedures on the reclassification of lands for “meaningful development.”

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