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House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. on Wednesday joined
Catholic Church bishops in a collective effort to extend by seven to
10 years the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), backed by
adequate production credits to defeat Philippine poverty.
At a press briefing after the
three-hour round-table discussion between bishops and lawmakers held
at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila, de Venecia said he
will lead the House in pursuing CARP reforms by extending its life
from its expiry date of June 30, 2008, and plugging loopholes that
jeopardize the intents of the land reform law.
“We will exert collective
efforts to extend the life of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Program with all the necessary reforms, funding and support services
needed to make it a success,” de Venecia said.
De Venecia conceded that
agriculture is the “stepchild” of the Philippine economy, and
said reforms to the CARP law are needed to provide agricultural
production credit, post-harvest facilities and marketing programs to
ensure that the farmers’ produce are bought at fair prices.
The Speaker gave assurances that
the majority coalition in the House of Representatives supports the
extension of the CARP, but warned of a stiff challenge from
landowners who believe the law’s extension would only result in
failure.
Deputy Minority Leader Rufus
Rodriguez and Rep. Lorenzo Tañada 3rd, chairman of the House
Committee on Human Rights, confirmed that the minority in the House
will vote with the majority coalition to ensure the success of the
agrarian reform program. They said agrarian reform concerns all
Filipinos regardless of party affiliation.
De Venecia warned that should the
government’s agrarian reform program fail, the country’s farmers
could end up like those in Colombia, other Latin American countries,
Myanmar and Afghanistan, where farmlands have been converted into
opium and marijuana plantations.
One major reform area in the CARP
is to allow farmers to use the lands awarded them as collateral when
procuring loans from banks.
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