MANILA, Philippines?(UPDATE 4) The House of Representatives has adjourned without passing a resolution that would extend the life of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) for six more months.

This after some lawmakers voiced strong opposition against the resolution the lower chamber jointly drafted with the Senate, enjoining to "maintain the status quo in the implementation of Republic Act 6657 or the CARP law until June 30, 2009."

The law expires on December 31.

House Speaker Prospero Nograles, Majority Leader Arthur Defensor, and Albay Representative Edcel Lagman announced before the start of the session the joint resolution would be sponsored on the floor for approval, then for signing by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

But after close to four hours, the session adjourned without the chamber passing the resolution. It was not even sponsored on the floor.

Defensor, in a phone interview, said the resolution would be discussed in an all-party caucus at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

He said lawmakers want a "new version" of the resolution.

"They could not agree, they want a new version," Defensor said.

At the Senate, Majority Floor Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said the resolution was being passed around for the senators' signatures.

?Sini-circulate na [It is being circulated]. Ang plano ko sana [My plan] was to get everybody to sign but ang gagawin lang naming [what we will do] is we will just file and will put it to a vote on the floor,? Zubiri said.

A copy of the draft resolution listed five authors -- Zubiri, Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile, Senate Pro-Tempore Jose ?Jinggoy Estrada, Senators Francis ?Kiko? Pangilinan and Gregorio Honasan.

Zubiri cited the difficulty of the House to get the required numbers to pass the CARP extension bill as a reason for the Senate decision to draft the joint resolution.

?I think ang problemang nakikita namin [I think the problem that we see] is on the part of the House of Representatives. I think they are having difficulty getting the numbers in terms of the vote,? he said.

In an interview with reporters, Enrile explained that the proposed extension would not include new acquisition of lands.

?Ang sinasabi namin dito sa Senado [What we are saying here in the Senate is] there should be no new acquisition until we really develop into very productive units the lands that we have already acquired,? he said.

And because the new resolution will not include new acquisition, Enrile said they would only allocate funds for personnel and capital outlay.

Asked why it would be extended for only six months, the Senate President said, ?We have to review the program. It?s very defective.?

Enrile said both houses of Congress should pass the joint resolution not later than Wednesday this week or before Congress takes a break, otherwise, there might be a need for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to declare a special session to tackle this matter.

At the House, Defensor earlier said the resolution was meant to avert a "tumultuous" outcome had there been voting on the floor.

"Remember the last time [June 2008] when some farmers in the gallery jumped in the plenary hall, that's only an indication that if we don't handle this thing well, it may spell trouble. ? The House of Representatives and the Senate is not unmindful of the things happening around us," he said.

Some 50 farmers, including three who are on hunger strike, stayed at the session hall and vowed to remain there until Nograles assures them of the bill?s passage.

Outside the Batasan Pambansa complex, more farmers, including those who have been staging a hunger strike, have camped out to press lawmakers to pass the extension.

The farmers and bishops staging the hunger strike said they have yet to meet whether or not to lift their protest action.

Lawmakers advocating for the extension said they were not happy with the joint resolution and vowed to question it on the floor.

"This is a poor substitute to a full program, but it has little value except to postpone the inevitable," said Akbayan partylist Representative Risa Hontiveros.

She expressed fears that the six-month period could be used to insert "killer amendments" to the measure.

Anakpawis partylist Representative Rafael Mariano called the joint resolution "a compromise between landlords and proponents of the anti-peasant CARP's extension."

The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas said the resolution was "illegal, fatally flawed, and grossly unconstitutional."

Nograles aid that extending the CARP for six months would give both chambers "breathing space" to discuss the issue further and come up with an agreement.

Nograles said it would be "too risky" to force the vote for the CARP extension. He said that even if the House approved it and the Senate agreed on a different version, the law would just expire on December 31.

"If I force the CARP, it will expire on December 31, that's the reality," he said.

"We are delaying it only to make sure what we are passing is also acceptable to the Senate and there is no gridlock, if we insist of passing something that they do not accept, and if they insist on passing something that the House does not accept, then we have no law," Nograles added.

Lagman said the six-month extension would give farmers "another round" and was the "only way" to save the law.

Lagman said that the joint resolution has the "force and effect of the law once approved by both Houses and approved by the President [Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo]."

It will also mean that the land acquisition and distribution component of the program will continue, Lagman said. He said there will be funding for this from the appropriation of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

According to the joint resolution, "there is a need to craft responsive amendments to the existing agrarian reform law to ensure the welfare of beneficiaries and guarantee the systematic and comprehensive provision of needed support services for the same."

It says that "maintaining the status quo on the implementation of the existing agrarian reform law as amended will provide for enough material time for members of the House of Representatives and the Senate to craft and approve a genuinely responsive agrarian reform law that will authentically secure the welfare of the beneficiaries and transform the program into a genuine engine for economic growth in the countryside."