Govt extends land reform

Carper Law grants P150B in support for farmers

President Gloria Arroyo signed into law on Friday a bill extending the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (Carp) for another five years beginning July 2009.

“Agrarian reform must raise living standards. Land ownership raises the farmer to a new productivity level that will keep him on his feet. We expect Carper to help us meet productivity goals that will emancipate our farmers. One again, congratulations to the authors of Carper Law, the champions of land reform program,” President Arroyo said during the signing of Republic Act 9700, or the Carp Extension with Reforms (Carper) bill before senators and congressmen and government employees inside a packed gym in Plaridel town, Bulacan province, north of Manila.

The President added that besides extending the effectivity of the law, another very important feature is the allocation of P150-billion fund for support services to farmers.

“During my State of the Nation Address last year, I mentioned that we must curb recklessness that keeps land without means and we must make it productive,” she said.

According to Mrs. Arroyo, making farmers become entrepreneurs make them more productive and this is one of her goals since her inauguration in 2004.

Farmers should not remain farmers just for themselves and should become individuals earning money, she said.

“These agri-business activities involve farmers selling seeds to growers as well as processing of agricultural products,” the President added.

The Carper Law is the government’s reply to pleas of farmers and workers in the agricultural sector for more time to fully implement the land reform program, which expired in June 2007.

Carp, the land redistribution scheme mandated by Republic Act 6657, or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988, expired in December 2008.

Congress adopted a joint resolution extending Carp for six more months, or until June 2009, to allow the Department of Agrarian Reform to continue with its mandated tasks, pending enactment of a new law to extend the operation of the program.

The law allots P150 billion for the acquisition and distribution of 1.6 million hectares of land for 1.2 million beneficiaries and provision of support services for farmers.

It covers all public and private agricultural lands as provided in Proclamation 131 and Executive Order 229, including other lands of the public domain suitable for agriculture.

The law also provides for the creation of a joint congressional oversight committee to be composed of three members each from the Senate and the House of Representatives. –Angelo S. Samonte, Manila Times