Philippines: Lawmaker wants scrapping of agribusiness arrangements that violate land and labour rights
"Lawmaker wants all agri-venture agreements scrapped", 02 August 2017
A...lawmaker from Davao City is seeking an end to all agribusiness venture agreements or AVAs which he said is used to legitimize land grabbing among farmers.
...Anakpawis Partylist Rep. Ariel Casilao said the Makabayan bloc wanted “all forms of non-land transfer scheme which includes agribusiness venture agreements or AVA’s” scrapped.
He said they just had their initial committee deliberations today regarding the House Resolution 919 which Anakpawis filed...to call on the committee on agrarian reform “to conduct an investigation on the impact of agribusiness venture agreements (AVAs) in light of the mounting demand of agrarian reform beneficiaries, farmers, and agriculture workers for its revocation.”
The Department of Agrarian Reform has recorded 433 existing AVA contracts covering some 57,000 hectares...
Casilao said: “These schemes practically legitimize massive land grabbing and unjust labor practices like contractualization, labor-only contracting, union-busting, and pressing down of wages, among others, that either maintain or worsen the impoverished conditions of agricultural workers.”