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By Efren L. Danao, Senior
Reporter
With only four session days left
before the Congress adjourns on June 11, the chairman of the Senate
committee on agrarian reform said it is impossible to extend the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
The program is set to expire on
June 17.
Sen. Gregorio “Gringo”
Honasan, who heads the Senate committee, said Monday that he could
not file a committee report with the plenary, because he has yet to
receive the data requested by Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Joker
Arroyo, Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Rodolfo Biazon from the Department
of Agrarian Reform, the Department of Agriculture and the National
Economic and Development Authority.
Enrile had asked for both
quantitative and qualitative reports on the performance of CARP
since its enactment in 1988.
Honasan said, “The problem is
that the thrust of the government has been on quantity, but it has
not made any effort to make a qualitative analysis, which is quite
herculean. That is the main reason why there is a big backlog of
cases at the Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Boards.”
Senator Arroyo wants an analysis
of the impact of CARP on the alleviation of poverty in the
countryside 20 years after its implementation. He and Enrile have
declared that they would not support any CARP extension that would
involve the acquisition and distribution of new lands. They said any
new law should concentrate on support services for current CARP
beneficiaries.
Pimentel wants CARP documents on
how much was paid to big haciendas.
Biazon called for an audit of the
original agrarian-reform beneficiaries and of the lands distributed
to farmers. The senator said many original CARP beneficiaries had
already sold their rights to the land, and that many of the lands
covered by CARP have been converted to residential or commercial
use.
Honasan absolved Agrarian Reform
Secretary Nasser Pangandaman of the difficulty in getting the data
sought by the senators.
“The NEDA should have
undertaken a continuing impact study on CARP,” he said. “It has
done only two studies so far—one last year and the other, in
1997.”
He added it is not only the
Senate, but also the House that is having difficulties in the
passing a new law that will extend the life of CARP.
“The CARP bill in the House is
now being sponsored by the chairman of the appropriations committee
itself, Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay, but even he is having
problems,” Honasan said.
At the same time, he sought to
allay fears that any failure to enact the law extending CARP would
affect the program.
“Agrarian reform is a
constitutional requirement so it will stay. The 2008 budget already
provides funding for CARP. And 70 percent of the CARP funds come
from the Presidential Commission on Good Government,” Honasan
said.
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