Land of the Lost: Farmers Slam Marcos Jr.’s 99-Year Land Lease and Forestry Deals as Sellout of Philippine Sovereignty

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

As the nation braces for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA), a storm is already brewing—not in the sky, but in the fields and forests of the Philippines.

Rural communities, already battered by decades of landlessness and exclusion, are now facing what many call the most aggressive corporate land grab in recent history. The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) has raised the alarm on the bicameral approval of a bill that would allow foreign entities to lease Philippine land for up to 99 years—a staggering move that critics warn would reduce Filipino farmers to mere spectators in their own homeland.

At the heart of this outrage is the consolidated version of House Bill 10755 and Senate Bill 2898, which amends the Investors' Lease Act (RA 7652). This legislative shift extends the lease period from 75 to 99 years—longer than the average Filipino lifespan. Now awaiting President Marcos Jr.'s signature or veto, this bill is seen by KMP as nothing less than the legalization of long-term land-grabbing dressed up as economic development.

“This is not development. This is betrayal,” said KMP Chairperson Danilo Ramos in a scathing statement. “Marcos Jr. is turning Philippine lands into corporate enclaves. These policies are not about sustainability or investment—they are about selling out our sovereignty to the highest bidder.”

But the 99-year lease is just one part of a twin assault on rural communities.

The Marcos administration is also aggressively rolling out the Sustainable Forest Land Management Program (SFLMP), targeting over 40,000 hectares of forest lands under the guise of reforestation and “green” development. Ramos warns that this initiative, backed by the Foreign Industry Roadmap (FIRM), is yet another scheme designed to displace indigenous peoples and farmers while lining the pockets of corporate giants.

“Don’t be fooled by the green rhetoric. This is legalized land-grabbing in its most dangerous form,” Ramos declared. “They speak of forest rehabilitation, but what they truly mean is corporate extraction hidden behind eco-friendly buzzwords.”

The SFLMP paints a dystopian picture of a future where forest lands—once protected by ancestral domain, cultural ties, and ecological balance—become battlegrounds for profit-driven “eco-industrial” ventures, many of which are bankrolled by foreign investors and powerful political clans.

From Lifeline to Commodity

Once again, the age-old narrative resurfaces: land, the very soul of the Filipino identity, reduced to a commodity. What used to be rice paddies and coconut groves, passed down through generations, are now being reshaped into investment portfolios and speculative assets.

“This is the clearest proof that Marcos Jr. is the chief representative of landlords and oligarchs,” said Ramos. “These policies will evict farmers and indigenous peoples, deepen land monopoly, and annihilate any hope for agrarian justice.”

Business groups, meanwhile, have praised the 99-year lease provision as “game-changing”—a term Ramos rebuked as “an insult to every farmer who has bled for this land.”

“What is truly game-changing is the scale of betrayal we are witnessing. Foreign corporations will be allowed to control our lands for longer than a Filipino’s lifetime,” Ramos said. “Ang ibinibenta ng gobyernong Marcos Jr. ay mga lupaing bumubuhay sa mga Pilipino.”

The Illusion of Progress

The Marcos administration has insisted that such policies are crucial to attracting foreign investment and spurring economic growth. But for those on the ground, this so-called progress is a mirage—one that masks a deeper erosion of democratic access to land and livelihood.

In truth, these policies reek of a familiar formula: marginalize the poor, exalt the powerful, and call it reform.

What’s unfolding isn’t just a policy debate—it’s a seismic battle over who gets to decide the fate of Philippine land. Is it the farmer who tills the soil, the Lumad who guards the forest, the fisherfolk who depend on mangrove ecosystems—or is it the faceless corporate boardrooms thousands of miles away?

A People's Resistance Rises

KMP has vowed to resist. On July 28, during the People’s SONA, they will join broad mobilizations to call for the outright rejection of the 99-year lease bill and the cancellation of the DENR’s forestry investment program.

This isn’t just a protest—it is a declaration of resistance by those who refuse to be erased.

“This land is not for sale. It never was,” said Ramos. “We will not allow our future to be leased away.”

As the president ascends the podium for his SONA, farmers and indigenous peoples will rise from the margins—undaunted, unwavering, and unrelenting in their cry: Land for the tillers, not for the tycoons.

In the end, this is not simply about laws or leases. It is about life—who gets to live with dignity, and who gets pushed to the edge of survival. And if history is any indication, it is in the soil of resistance where true revolution begins.

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