Enact ‘genuine’ agrarian reform bill – lawmaker

Anakpawis party-list Rep. Ariel Casilao on Wednesday reiterated his call for the enactment of House Bill 555 or the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB), saying it is a step to resolving the centuries-old agrarian problem in the country and would lead to genuine rural and development that would benefit the whole population.

“Haciendas and land monopoly reigned since the Spanish colonial period in our history, but the rich hacienderos and big businesses are still holding on to their vast tracts of lands, keeping the peasant class under undescribable poverty and misery,” Casilao said during a protest of farmers led by the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas at the south gate of the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.