MANILA, Philippines -- A consensus is growing among legislators on the need to pass a bill extending the life of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) before Congress adjourns its regular session -- and introduce reforms to the program later.

Both administration and opposition congressmen have agreed in principle to approve House Bill No. 4077 before the first regular session of the 14th Congress ends on June 13, Isabela Representative Giorgidi Aggabao said Thursday.

?Yes, there?s a consensus to pass it,? Aggabao told reporters after a press forum.

Iloilo Representative Janette Garin and South Cotabato Representative Darlene Custodio had said there was an agreement among lawmakers to pass HB 4077 before Congress adjourns, and pass a separate bill for reforms to it in the second regular session.

?Definitely, the House is set on passing the CARP extension,? Custodio said Wednesday.

Both chambers of Congress are hard-pressed to pass the measure before CARP, specifically its land acquisition and distribution (LAD) component, expires on June 10 after 20 years on the law books.

Some 1.1-million hectares of agricultural land remain to be distributed to their tenants throughout the country.

HB 4077 seeks to extend the LAD by five years, appropriate at least P100 billion to cover the extension, and increase the allocation for support services for farmers from 25 to 40 percent of CARP funds.

Aggabao, a member of the House committee on agrarian reform, said even lawmakers critical of CARP had agreed to approve the measure.

?There?s a certain group who had said CARP was ineffective and wanted substantive changes made to it. For instance, Cebu Representative Pablo Garcia has many ideas about that. He?s willing to have it extended, and immediately after that, we will dwell on the more substantive amendments,? he said.

Some landowners among the lawmakers are keen on introducing amendments to CARP such as allowing farmland to be used as collateral for loans and exempting sugar and agro-industrial estates from CARP coverage.

But even if CARP is extended by the House, the Senate may not be too accommodating after Senators Joker Arroyo and Juan Ponce Enrile said there was no need to extend the program.

?That?s the position of the Senate... so we have a problem there,? Aggabao said.