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Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. told philstar.com that the CARP bill will be prioritized in the Senate agenda for the first week of June.
A promise deferred
The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, signed by President Corazon Aquino on June 10, 1988 should have been implemented 11 years ago, but the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) was not able to meet the 1998, deadline. According to tinigngplaridel.net, "It was the fifth land reform law in fifty years, following the land reform laws of Presidents Manuel Quezon, Ramon Magsaysay , Diosdado Macapagal and Ferdinand Marcos." The proponents of the bill with DAR extended the deadline for 10 more years, and by the 2008 deadline, nothing much had changed - 80% of private lands still remain undistributed.
Section 2 of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988 (Republic Act No. 6657) states: "The agrarian reform program is founded on the right of farmers and regular farm workers, who are landless, to own directly or collectively the lands they till or, in the case of other farm workers, to receive a share of the fruits thereof. To this end, the State shall encourage the just distribution of all agricultural lands..."
The original bill itself is not free of contention. The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program with Extension and Reforms were introduced in order to equally distribute agricultural lands in the Philippines. This was made so the loopholes in CARP would be revised. According to thefinalstand.multiply.com, some landowners have been "mysteriously exempted from the law," and that agricultural to non agricultural conversions "are being allowed without much question."
-
To
mitigate the inequalities of the original CARP, revisions have been
provided. Thefinalstand provided an outline
of the CARP provisions:
- Landowners should sell their land possessions exceeding 5 hectares (given that their land is fit for growing crops).
- Landowners may keep 3 hectares of their land for each of their children who are personally managing the land.
- Landowners may sell their land to the government, and then the government will sell the land to the farmers.
- The farmers should then complete their payment for the land within 30 years and an annual 6% interest rate.
Once CARPER is implemented, 4.5 million farmers in the Philippines will get the land that should have been theirs eleven years ago. 7.2 million hectares of agricultural land will be distributed and they will be able to finally own the land they till.
Carpernow explains: "In both rural lands and city streets, people are begging for money and food. Without CARPER, farmers in the countryside are unable to harvest crops intended for all of us. The cost of living rises wherever we are as we pay for imported rice to feed our families. Agrarian reform isn't about the farmers' struggle alone. It is every Filipino's fight against hunger. It is every Filipino's campaign for health and life."
Bishop, nuns, demonstrators hosed down
In May, pro-agrarian reform demonstrators with Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo and other pro-land reform advocates who showed up at the Batasang Pambansa were violently dispersed by water cannons by the police and the House of Representatives security. The farmers marched outside the Batasan compound to show their plea for the extension of CARP before Congress goes on recess after the June 5 session.
Archbishop of Jaro Angel Lagdameo said that he condemns "such actuation on the part of the police because they're not the ones who were supposed to respond to the advocacy of the farmers, but the congressmen." He told the farmers not to be discouraged because he is on their side.
According to abs-cbnnews.com, the demonstrators massed outside the South Gate of the Batasan at 3 pm and at 4 p.m., they were hosed down. The report added that they asked permission from House Speaker Prospero Nograles to organize a protest outside the Batasan, but Nograles did not respond.
The Philippine blogosphere's participation
Proponents of CARPER has taken to the internet to air their views on two online websites. One is carpernow.multiply.com, a site maintained by Sentro ng Alternatibong Lingap Panligal (SALIGAN). The other is thefinalstand.multiply.com, a site made by Ateneans, who recently went on a "hunger act"
in support of CARPER. Both sites provide all the information, articles, and photos related to passing CARPER.
"What can we expect from the Government? Nothing. We can't expect them to do anything if the people aren't pushing them to do it. Remember, we are in the Philippines, a highly agricultural based country on which feudalism is still widespread. We can't just write a law on a piece of paper and expect them to implement what is written. We should fight for social justice. It is the only way for them to hear our grievances," said multiply user immaculategoal.
"Countries like [J]apan, [K]orea and [T]aiwan had to implement an effective agrarian reform program first before they developed. i'm not saying it's the only key, but it will contribute a lot, especially since it will help make our country self-sufficient in food," said cherrylsi.
Miriam Coronel Ferrer, in her abs-cbnnews.com article "CARPER: The Challenge to Congress," said: "Can we blame the farmers and their supporters from among the middle-class, the Catholic church and NGOs, if they intend to shepherd the two bills to fruition the best way they could - in terms of numbers massed up and taking their seats on the streets in the weeks to come before Congress once again takes a break?"
Ditsi
Carolino's Lupang Hinarang
Filmmaker Ditsy Carolino, maker of award-winning documentaries Minsan Lang Sila Bata and Bunso recently released her latest film called Lupang Hinarang, a two-part documentary that explores Filipino farmers' continuous battle against landowners and their struggle for justice. Carolino focused on the strife of the Sumilao farmers and the short-lived victory of the Negros farmers, two of whom were shot by the landowners' armed men.
"The viewer cannot but admire the steadfastness and perseverance of the hunger strikers in their quest for land, and the lengths they go through to claim what's theirs: when asked how they feel during the progress of the fast, one of them replies that he feels as if his insides are falling away, while another says it is as if he is going deaf," said Juaniyo Arcellana of philstar.com.
"The hunger strike results in victory for the farmers until the film ends in a shocking climax," blogged melo,sdb.
"'Lupang Hinarang' still has that original Carolino touch (no narrator, understated cinematography, realistic presentation of events that is romanticized by a skillful yet honest kind of handling/editing), and perhaps, the best part about the film is that it appeals for the implementation of CARPER (CARP Extension with Reforms)," blogged Lara Mendizabal.
Time
is running out
"The small farmers deserve our attention and espousal of their cause. They continue bringing hope to society, and nurture life from season to season. No man of upright conscience much more that of a principled leader, can allow the Filipino farmer to be laid bare and vulnerable to the claws of globalization and continuous hopelessness," said Angel Lagdameo, DD in a May 18, 2009 pastoral statement of the CBCP.
Pro-agrarian reform farmers will continue pushing the bill. They will also be having a prayer vigil this week. According to carpernow,"If Congress fails to pass CARPER this week, violence and turmoil are impending."
Photos by Odessa T. Sta. Maria. Used with permission
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