Hundreds of farmers and advocates
belonging to the Reform CARP Movement (RCM), a broad coalition calling for the
extension and reform of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), held
a picket-rally last Wednesday at the House of Representatives during the House Committee
on Agrarian Reform's public hearing on proposed bills to extend the agrarian
reform program.
Composed of 30 organizations,
Reform CARP Movement considers the Congressional deliberation as vital to
saving the agrarian reform program from a likely termination in June. "In this
crucial stage where the fate of CARP is in the hands of our legislators, the
Committee should understand that land reform is not yet finished and that most
of the agrarian reform beneficiaries have not received support services from the
government," said PARAGOS-Pilipinas President Ka Jimmy Tadeo.
The public hearing aims to gather
various positions of farmer stakeholders vis-à-vis different bills filed in
Congress and eventually come up with a draft substitute bill in an effort to
accommodate all the bills. Reform CARP Movement specifically pushed for the
passage into law of House Bill (HB) No. 1257, which aims to extend CARP to
seven years but with significant reforms. The reform measures under HB 1257,
among others, include the revocation of non-redistributive schemes such as
stock distribution option (SDO), voluntary land transfer (CLT), and leaseback
arrangements. The bill also proposes the reorganization of the Department of
Agrarian Reform (DAR), the lead implementing agency of CARP.
HB 1257 was filed last year by AKBAYAN
Party List Representative Riza Hontiveros-Baraquel. It was a result of more
than a year of consultations with farmers groups and NGOs working on agrarian
reform and rural development.
"Today is a make-or-break moment
for the Committee (on Agrarian Reform). If they refuse to act immediately on
the proposal to extend CARP implementation with the needed reforms, the
Committee will only trigger increased rural poverty conditions and social
unrest in the countryside," warned PKSK Chair Ka Ruperto Aleroza.
The public hearing followed in the
wake of a series of provincial consultations held by the Committee in three provinces
including La Union, Negros Oriental, and Davao del Sur. Reform CARP Movement
had earlier commended the Committee for having objectively conducted the
consultations. "The overwhelming support by several farmers groups for CARP
extension with reform manifested during the consultations should be enough
reason to convince our legislators to hasten the passage of the bill. Now is
the time for government to show that it is truly serious in protecting the
rights and upholding social justice for the landless farmers and farm workers
by enacting the CARP extension with reforms bill," said PKKK Chair Ka Trining
Domingo.
For inquiries, please call Mr. Eugene Tecson at 9287464 or Mr. Dong Calmada at 4389762
