Farmers hold protest as CARP ends

MANILA, Philippines - Thousands of farmers held protest actions yesterday to mark the expiration of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

They started the rally at the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Quezon City and ended at Chino Roces (Mendiola) Bridge across Malacañang in Manila.

Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) chairman Rafael Mariano said CARP is dead and a total failure.

“Vast haciendas remain intact, under the control of big landlords and agribusinesses, and the Filipino peasantry are still landless,” he said.               

“Farmers across the country, especially those who are facing agrarian disputes, must raise their organizational strength and advance their collective assertion of their rights to the lands,” Mariano said.                

The KMP again called for the enactment of a new land reform program embodied in House of Representatives Bill 252 or the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill.

“Based on the government’s 1988 Lista Saka program, there are 8.9 million hectares of private agricultural lands, and granting that the DAR’s so-called distribution of 2.6 million hectares of private agricultural lands out of its highly questionable 4.4 million-hectare accomplishment is correct, there are still 6.3 million hectares of private agricultural lands that remain under the control of big landlords and agro-corporations,” the KMP said.               

Peasant groups together with allied organization Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) barricaded the DAR and prevented employees from entering the premises to report for work.

Agrarian Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Anthony Parungao said they were constrained to issue an advisory to all employees at the central office to go home.

“Rallyists blocked all the gates and access points of the DAR,” he said “We felt this was necessary to ensure the safety of our employees, especially given the sheer number of protesters, and since a good number of  employees went home already out of sheer frustration,” he said.

However, all DAR field offices in the regions, provinces and municipalities are open, and continue to work and  issue and serve notices of coverage to landowners, Parungao said. – With Evelyn Macairan