WE lament the position of candidates [Joker] Arroyo, [John] Osmeña and [Tessie] Oreta
against the completion of CARP [Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program].
Apparently, except for Osmeña and Oreta who are consistent anti-CARP advocates, Mr. Arroyo is either misinformed or has not appreciated the facts well. CARP is a social justice program which has a significant impact on the political, social and economic inequalities pervading in the countryside. It aims to break the rural poverty trap, the political exclusions of rural folks, and the skewed agrarian relations that exploit rather than protect poor and hapless tenants, farmers and farmworkers.
Ironically, it is a revolutionary measure that breathes in a democratic environment. And while it started as a centerpiece program of the government, its budgetary and enforcement support can, at best, be described as palliative. CARP is not just land reform. It includes the whole package of support services that would ensure land productivity and fair economic development of farmer-beneficiaries.
Government should give serious attention to land development and economic development needs of agrarian reform beneficiaries, as they face new challenges in the rural development arena after they are finally awarded the land they till. This certainly needs resources that only the government can provide or guarantee.
It is poverty and the lack of support services that prompted farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries to encumber or sell their lands. Do we really think we can effectively address the century-old problem of poverty and injustice (which caused the social unrest in the countryside) with a 20-year agrarian reform program that enjoys token support from the government — from Congress?
Amidst these odds, CARP has distributed more than three million hectares of agricultural lands to more than 1.3 million farmer-beneficiaries. But for lack of funds they are geographically consolidated in what is called today as the Agrarian Reform Community. The purpose is to optimize use of meager resources for post-harvest facilities, technology transfer, social infrastructure building, production enhancement programs and market development, among others.
While this strategy works, it has a very limited reach in terms of number of beneficiaries actually benefitting. It only served about 30 percent of the total number of farmers that equally deserve much needed support services. It is sad and frustrating to know that there are members of Congress who fail to see the gains of CARP. Had they been sincere in promoting and protecting the interest and welfare of our farmers, farmworkers and agrarian reform beneficiaries, they would have observed and appreciated positive developments in the agrarian front.
And they would have shared and heeded, as civil society and farmer-stakeholders do, the call by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines for the completion of CARP by 2008. And that if completion is not feasible by then, it must be further extended and funded more seriously and generously. If there’s one good thing that this incident has produced, it is the opportunity to know, finally, the position of Joker Arroyo on CARP. Now, we know why we cannot vote for him.
– Mark Amor, Davao City (via e-mail)
April 26th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
The best land reform program in Philippine History is that of President Ramon Magsaysay. His first priority is is the distribution of public lands through his projects namely: EDCOR, NARRA, SEMP.He was able to persuade the communis rebels in Central Luzon to lay down their firearms and surrender and go back to the folds of the law by giving them free lands and support services. Many poverty-stricken families were able to avail of this program.
According to one think-tank, carp could not succeed unless their is a corresponding aggressive population control program. Our population increases by two million every year (includes unregistered births of indigents, mountain barangays). We are now number twelve in the world with the highest population . The Roman Catholic Church is sabotaging our family planning program. The catholic priests and nuns are incompetent to advise our people regarding family planning because they themselves don’t have their own children to raise and experience the financial hardships of raising many children.
In the United States only three per cent of the population are in engage in agriculture but they rank as top producers in the world of many agricultural crops.
Perhaps we should reexamine carp and find out what went wrong along the way.
By the way the riceland of my great-grandfather was covered by P.D. 27 land reform in 1972 but until now we have not yet been by the DAR-LAND BANK. He died not yet paid.
contributed by: aireen jakosalem, TUDELA, MISAMIS OCCIDENTAL
April 25th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
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