DAR open to CARP extension; militants say it’s total madness

Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio “Gil” de los Reyes. PHOTO FROM GOV.PH

Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes is open to a proposal by lawmakers to extend the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) by five years from 2014.

But a militant farmer’s group called the proposed extension “total madness,” saying the land reform program was nothing but the “milking cow” of landlords. The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) urged the free distribution of land to the landless.

Delos Reyes and the KMP were reacting to a bill filed by Cagayan Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and his brother, Rep. Maximo Rodriguez of Abante Mindanao that would extend the land reform law by five years from its expiration in 2014 and strengthen some of its provisions.

Delos Reyes said extending the acquisition and distribution of agricultural lands until 2019 would be “one of the options” he would present to President Aquino before the next regular session of Congress starts in July 2013.

“As the law stands, you can go beyond June 2014 if you issue the notice of coverage ahead… If you have a law extending the program, that’s not bad,” he said by phone.

Between now and 2014, the Department of Agrarian Reform aims to cover more than 900,000 hectares of land. This includes 300,000 ha of landholdings below 10 ha, and 600,000 ha of landholdings above 10 ha.

It hopes to issue the notice of coverage for landholdings above 10 ha by December this year and for landholdings below 10 ha, by July 2013.

Palace yet to receive copy

Undersecretary Abigail Valte, deputy presidential spokesperson, deferred comment on the proposed law, saying Malacañang has yet to receive a copy of it.

“We will reserve comment until we actually see the proposed law,” she said, adding “our officials at DAR are very willing to work with our legislators on providing the information that they need.”

The bill has been referred to the committee on agrarian reform.

In filing House Bill 6614, they explained that the program had yet to fully meet its objectives 25 years after it was mandated by President Aquino’s mother, the late President Corazon C. Aquino.

For example, they cited that the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) is far from fulfilling its 2012 target of processing 180,000 ha of land. It has been able to process just a little over 32,000 ha, according to the lawmakers.

The DAR plans to acquire 17,524 ha of land under leasehold agreements this year, but latest figures show it has processed only 7,724 ha.

Slamming the CARP extension bill, the KMP deputy secretary Randall Echanis said “The Filipino peasantry already had enough of the bogus CARP.

In a statement, Echanis said the Philippine CARP was “the longest-running and most expensive agrarian reform program in the world.”

“CARP has only served as a “milking cow of big landlords,” he added.

He cited government records showing that from 1972 to June 2005, the total approved Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) compensation to 83,203 landowners for 1.3 million hectares has reached P41.6 billion ($783.2 million, based on an exchange rate of P53.115 per US dollar) in cash and bonds, or an average of P500,463 ($9422.25) per landlord.  With a report from DJ Yap

First posted 9:15 pm | Friday, November 2nd, 2012