One day after hurdling the Senate, the House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on final reading the bill extending the land lease limits for foreign investors in the country to 99 years.

House Bill 10755, which garnered 175-3-2 votes, seeks to amend Section 4 of the 31-year-old Investors' Lease Act (RA 7652) by authorizing a lease for a maximum period of 99 years from the current threshold of 75 years.

The measure is part of the priority legislation that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. wanted Congress to pass, in a bid to lure more foreign capital into the Philippines that would translate to additional job opportunities for Filipinos, and sustain economic growth.

“We want to be competitive regionally and globally in terms of enticing foreign investments,” said House Speaker Martin Romualdez, one of the bill's principal authors.

HB 10755 provides that the leased areas must be used solely for investment purposes, as agreed upon by the parties involved.

Opposing the bill, Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas argued that the eventual enactment of the bill into law demonstrates that the government's prioritization of foreign and corporate interests over those of local farmers and genuine economic development.

“Ninety-nine years, Mr. Speaker. We have repeatedly emphasized in previous hearings that this is a very long — equivalent to several generations of land leases, more than the global average life expectancy of 73 years,” Brosas lamented.

Further, she warned that the extended lease term could entirely open the doors to foreigners to monopolize and control the country's land, including agriculture and lands awarded to agrarian reform beneficiaries, for a prolonged period.

The bill added a new provision that defines “private lands,” which Brosas called into question for being “vague” and “loose” as it fails to demarcate private and public lands. "Although the land titles are still under their names, can they still be considered theirs if they are not the ones who decide how these lands will be used?” she asked.

She added, "We prioritize leaving our lands to foreign businessmen and corporations, while the majority of our farmers and farm workers do not have their own land to farm and cultivate."

Brosas asserted that the proposed law will not only fail to cater to the interest of common Filipinos, specifically farmers and agricultural workers, but will also not promote economic growth as promised.

Under the bill, a lessee may be allowed to sublease the rented land with the consent of the lessor, unless there is a provision in the contract to the contrary.

The bill mandates that any lease contract that violates it shall be void from the beginning.

The contracting parties shall be punished with a fine of P1 million (up from P100,000) to P10 million (up from P1 million).