Government told: Make Negros Occidental a CARP showcase

BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental — A historic two-day farmers’ congress ended here last Thursday with a united call on the Arroyo administration to make the province home to big sugarcane haciendas owned by influential families a showcase of its firm resolve to implement the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

For Gregorio Paclibar, head of Task Force Mapalad, a regional organization of 4,493 farmers and farmworkers, the province is also a litmus test to the leadership of Agrarian Reform Secretary Hernani Braganza.

The 67-year-old farmer from La Castellana town spoke at the opening of the congress Wednesday with an urgency that his listeners readily understood.

"Karon ang panahon para singilon ta si Secretary Braganza sang iya nga mga promesa (Now is the time to demand Secretary Braganza to make good his promise)," Paclibar said.

Task Force Mapalad has been asking Braganza to fast-track the implementation of CARP in 10,650 hectares of 105 haciendas in 15 Negros Occidental towns.

The hectarage is only a small portion of sugarcane landholdings in Negros Occidental, but organizers of the congress said farmers in these haciendas have waited for so long.

DAR records show that of the country’s 77 provinces, Negros Occidental has the largest area of landholdings yet to be placed under agrarian reform.