Creeping invasion

Creeping invasion | Daily Tribune

Foreign occupation, which is the worst fear of nations, is upon the country and it is being done surreptitiously.

A silent threat is emerging that may undermine food availability and the country’s future as security officials, including one involved in rounding up illegal gaming businesses, believe that foreign entities are buying up land.

Property banking is a common practice among real estate companies to bet on the growth prospects in fast-developing areas but the acquisitions that an official of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) noticed may involve grabbing a territory.

PAOCC Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz narrated in a television interview a worrying prospect that the government should put a halt on as he said some foreigners who he did not identify are wholesale buying and renting plots of land.

The possibility of moneyed individuals or groups moving to buy up chunks of the country while the whole nation’s attention is glued to maintaining its boundaries in the West Philippine Sea is quite disturbing.

A Catholic bishop had revealed to security officials a property buying spree in Taytay, Palawan by some foreign individuals and urged the government to investigate.

Cruz said even before the revelation of the Palawan prelate, the PAOCC had been investigating instances of massive land purchases.

“This is happening not only in Palawan but in other provinces such as Nueva Ecija and other places which should be devoted to planting for food such as rice farms,” Cruz said.

A source recently told DAILY TRIBUNE a similar problem in Catanduanes.

Strangely, most of the purchases that Catanduanes folks believe are financed by foreign groups are beachfronts not only on the island but also in some parts of the Bicol region, which is the gateway to the Philippines from the Pacific Ocean.

The informant said that the buying spree in the Bicol region extends to the shipping business, gas stations, bus companies, and even private cemetery lots.

Even radio stations are being snapped up by suspected dummies of foreign groups, the source indicated.

PAOCC’s Cruz said that foreign entities initially rent large tracts and later on make an offer to buy these through likely Filipino subalterns.

The Constitution restricts foreigners from owning land but a proposal to amend the Charter’s provision seeks to relax such limitation.

Cruz said to win the favor of landowners, foreigners offer to rent plots of farmland for around P80,000 to 100,000 per hectare per month initially.

Those who own the land gladly accede eventually to selling their lots as a result of the offer, which is usually way higher than what they consider a good price.

“If you need money, the offer would be a rare opportunity to let pass but what we are concerned about is their control of the land,” Cruz said.

“Let's say, that the land goes to rice planting. If a substantial part of the country is rented or sold to foreign groups, then they can control prices and eventually dominate food supply.”

While it is revolting that Filipino political families are enriching themselves and becoming billionaires in the process of exploiting the hardships of farm owners to convince them to sell their properties at ridiculously low prices, moneyed foreign groups cornering pieces of estate should worry the government.

Not only food supply but also national security is at stake from foreign land ownership which must be the reason for crafters of the Charter to be wary about letting parts of the nation be owned by capitalists other than Filipinos.

Even granting that the acquisitions are purely for economic purposes, the bargain sale of land deprives Filipinos of benefitting from the fruits of the rich resources of the country.

It is up to the government to remove the traitors within the ranks of public servants who would be willing to compromise the welfare of Filipinos and the nation for 30 pieces of silver or far more.