Nene scores exec’s apathy to CARP law extension

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel yesterday assailed Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman for apparent disinterest in extending the lifetime of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) by at least another five years.

“The biggest stumbling block to the amendments of the CARP is Secretary Pangandaman because he does not seem to care. I believe that the secretary of Agrarian Reform should be proactive. He should not neglect his mandated duty. But he does not seem to mind what happens to the law of which his department is the primary implementor,” Pimentel said in a statement sent to media.

Pimentel lashed out at Pangandaman after noting the Senate’s deliberation on the bill was hampered by Pangandaman’s “anemic response” to the Senate’s request for data on the implementation of CARP since l988, particularly the disbursement and utilization of funds.

Pimentel said if Pangandaman could not do his part in expediting the passage of the measure, it could be that he is “busy playing golf.”

Pimentel’s remark was an obtuse reference to Pangandaman’s reported penchant for playing golf. In December last year, Pangandaman hogged newspaper headlines after his namesake son, a Lanao town mayor, and his bodyguards were involved in a mauling incident while playing golf in Valley Golf and Country Club in Cainta, Rizal.

Pimentel said the fate of the bill was uncertain because of the lobby from powerful landed interests, the inaction of agrarian reform authorities and even the problem of quorum in the House of Representatives.

Pimentel issued his statement as the extension period of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, or Republic Act 6577, was about to lapse come June 30. The law has been extended a few times since 1988 when it was first enacted.

Pimentel said the proposed amendments to CARP law that should be in place before June 30 included included the allocation of additional funds, the institution of reforms in terms of land acquisition and distribution and provision of support services to agrarian reform beneficiaries. These amendments, he added, were intended to extend CARP’s lifetime “by at least five years.”

Pimentel’s remarks came on the heels of continuing dialogs by members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, some lawmakers, and Malacañang officials, to ensure CARP’s extension.

In a media briefing last Saturday, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said those concerned in the dialogs were to take into consideration the reported advice of the World Bank (WB) for a two-year moratorium on the CARP extension law.

The Task Force Mapala, a national peasant federation, reported the WB’s draft recommendations for a two-year moratorium on compulsory land acquisition.

“Our policy-makers should look into that very closely. It has to be taken into consideration. We take the advice of international bodies like the World Bank seriously but we will not be bound by them if the consensus is that they are not in the best interest of our people,” Remonde said. 

Remonde noted that Malacañang, CBCP and the leaderships of the Senate and the House of Representatives have been holding dialogs on the issue of CARP extension and expressed hope that it “ will be passed before its expiration.”

Pimentel said Congress should pass the final version of the bill amending CARP law just in time before the adjournment sine die on June 5.

The amended measure would thus be sent to President Arroyo for signing into law before the expiration of Joint Congressional Resolution l9 which extended the effectivity of CARP by six months. Only l2 days of session are left before the mid-year adjournment.

“In other words, the first week of June, we will already be adjourning. And therefore, obviously the need for a more speedy action on the part of the Senate would be crucial in order to prod the House of Representatives to do their thing,” Pimentel said.

Pimentel clarified that the problem in getting the amendments to the CARP approved was not with the Senate. He added that Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen. Gregorio Honasan, sponsor of the bill, have committed to have the bill passed possibly this week.

Pimentel said he learned that deliberation by the House of Representatives on the bill seeking to amend the CARP law suffered a delay due to lack of quorum, which stemmed, among others, from the absence of a group of congressmen, led by Speaker Prospero Nograles, who had to be quarantined for a number of days after arriving from the United States where they watched the Pacquiao-Hatton boxing match.