Agrarian Reform

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court upheld an order of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in 2008 to temporarily suspended the conversion of farmlands for commercial use.

MANILA, Philippines – The recent Supreme Court (SC) ruling on the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) signals the start of its smooth implementation that would define the role of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to intervene in disputes and other cases under the social justice program.

ENVIRONMENT Secretary Horacio Ramos stressed the need to reform the country’s land-administration system to help boost the country’s socioeconomic development.

REDISTRIBUTING property rights through agrarian reform is a key policy direction that should be taken by the new administration of President-apparent Benigno Aquino III to help the country adapt to climate change, experts on land and asset reform said at a recent conference.

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed its 2007 decision upholding the ruling to include sugar lands in the coverage of the government’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

I-TEAM REPORT: THINK ISSUES (Seventh of a series) CONCEPCION, TARLAC—It was a scene from Marlboro country come alive. The brothers Rocky and Joel Lopa, in full cowboy gear, came galloping on horseback at Hacienda Luisita as a security helicopter hovered overhead.

MANILA, Philippines – Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman said Wednesday that the 200,000-hectare land distribution target the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) set for the year is attainable, thanks largely to Congress for restoring the controversial compulsory acquisition scheme and for increasing the budget for land reform.

MANILA, Philippines – Agrarian reform beneficiaries in Davao will be the most affected sector if the ban on aerial spraying in banana plantations pushes through.

The Supreme Court (SC) has thumbed down a claim by real estate developer Roxas and Co. Inc. (RCI) to have two of its Batangas properties exempted from the government’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (Carp).

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s banking sector is urging Congress to reconsider proposed amendments to Presidential Decree 717 or the Agri-Agra Law on mandatory lending.

A House panel today is set to initiate investigations on allegations that agrarian reform funds are being diverted for nonagrarian reform projects in Vinzons, Camarines Norte.

MANILA, Philippines – A private polling and political advocacy group yesterday expressed doubts on the accuracy of surveys showing Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III leading by a huge margin among the 2010 presidential aspirants.

MANILA, Philippines – Ayala-controlled Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), one of the country’s biggest lenders, has voluntarily turned over 475 hectares of foreclosed properties worth about P242 million to the government.

Is the enactment of the law extending the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program—the CARPer, for CARP Extension with Reforms—a “death sentence” for the country’s millions of farmers? That’s what the militant left thinks. Anakpawis party-list Rep. Rafael Mariano reflected that point of view with the forceful statement he issued after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Republic Act…

PLARIDEL, Bulacan, Philippines — President Arroyo signed into law yesterday a measure extending the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) for another five years beginning July 2009 and allocating P1.5 billion for its implementation.

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.

PLARIDEL, Bulacan, Philippines–President Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday signed into law a bill extending the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program for another five years beginning July 2009.

The Senate yesterday backed the proposal of President Arroyo to condone P42 billion worth of unpaid amortizations of agrarian reform beneficiaries to the Land Bank of the Philippines.

MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives approved last night the bicameral conference committee report extending the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program by five more years.

I have had my doubts about it for years. But I thought the only reason agrarian reform doesn’t seem to be working in this country is the way the law has been crafted by a landlord dominated Congress and implemented by an unimaginative, ineffective and possibly corrupt bureaucracy. After all these years, it is no…

MANILA, Philippines – The Senate and the House of Representatives have resolved all major issues concerning the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) bill and agreed to extend the coverage for five more years plus an allocation of up to P150 billion.

The bicameral conference committee in a marathon meeting late Tuesday evening approved a joint resolution seeking a five-year extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), increased its fund allocation to P150 billion, and restored its compulsory land acquisition and distribution schemes covering all agricultural lands.

The House of Representatives extending for five years the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) on Wednesday seemed to have divided militant lawmakers who had all been behind it.

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – “It is now almost 20 years since we received our lands under CARP but we are not better off than when we were still working with the previous landowner,” lamented Francisco Gevero, a 60-year-old agrarian reform beneficiary (ARB) from San Antonio Farms, Hacienda Caridad, Manapla, Negros Occidental.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the OPEC Fund for International Development have extended P10 billion in official development assistance (ODA) for basic rural infrastructure projects to the Department of Agrarian Reform.

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.

Six newly installed party-list lawmakers have warned of unrest if Congress fails to pass the bill seeking to extend the implementation of the agrarian reform law.

“HOw can CARP be extended “with reforms” but without audit? How will the taxpayers know whether the new extension law will address the real causes of CARP’s failure during the past 20 years?

At least 20 beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program under Task Force Mapalad in Negros Occidental have sold their sugar farms, after fighting tooth and nail to gain ownership of the land. They said the program did not extend support services to them and failed to improve their living.

SENATE and House leaders have agreed to restore the state’s power to compel landowners to sell their land under the agrarian reform program, but exempted vast tracts within sugar and coconut plantations.