Farmers urge P-Noy to scrap CARPer law

ANGELES CITY, Philippines  - Farmers in Central Luzon have urged President Aquino to scrap the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (CARPer) in favor of the Genuine Agrarian Reform bill now pending in the House of Representatives as they observe today the third anniversary of the signing of the CARPer law by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Farmers belonging to Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon (AMGL) yesterday expressed doubt that the President’s family no longer had any interest to reclaim Hacienda Luisita.

“We are asking him to junk CARPer and instead back House Bill 374,” said AMGL chairman Joseph Canlas.

Farmers from Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan and Pampanga held a protest rally in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform central office in Quezon City.

“Aquino should accept that without genuine land reform, there would be no social justice and fundamental reforms and all deception and lies about CARPer would be exposed and its multi-billion budget allocation would all go to waste or to the pocket of the rich landlords,” Canlas said.

“The President is sending a wrong signal by delaying the distribution of Hacienda Luisita to the farmer-beneficiaries. He promised to uphold the law but when the Supreme Court finally decided, here he goes ordering DAR to make a new list of farmworker-beneficiaries, thus prolonging the process,” he added.

The group also sought the immediate distribution of the 3,100-hectare agricultural lands which used to be part of the Fort Magsaysay military reservation in Laur, Nueva Ecija. The property is being claimed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

“If Aquino was sincere in realizing fundamental reforms, CARP should have covered the subjected lands decades ago and distributed to legitimate farmer-beneficiaries, but he did not,” Canlas said.