New body will kill CARP, farmers say

A militant farmers’ group on Thursday denounced the creation of a new agency on agrarian reform as an attempt by the administration to extend its “antipeasant, prolandlord” policies beyond the life of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) next year.

The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said the Inter-Agency Committee on Institutional Arrangements and Rural Development established by Administrative Order No. 34 would ensure the extension of CARP “minus the Department of Agrarian Reform.”

Issued by President Aquino on Nov. 22, the AO created the agency that is tasked to “conduct a study on the continuity of land distribution and management as well as the provision of support services to the agriculture and fisheries sectors.”

It also seeks to pursue the CARP mandate, rationalize support services to farmers and fishermen, and formulate a transition plan for the “post-CARP scenario.”

In a statement, KMP spokesperson Antonio Flores said “AO 34 is tied to the Aquino government’s plan to extend the bogus CARP another five years, further worsening its character but minus the DAR.”

Malacañang has insisted the government is on track to complete the distribution of land to farmers, or at least the issuance of the notices of coverage to landholdings, by the time CARP expires in June 2014. DJ Yap