Land Bank urged to help CARP

Stressing that the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) is right on track in its target to distribute 300,000 hectares until 2004, President Arroyo has directed the Land Bank of the Philippines to return to its old mandate of helping small farmers gain access to credit and support services.

The President’s directive includes the fast-tracking of payments to landowners to properly implement the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

In a recent interview, the President said that as far as documentation and processing of land distribution are concerned, the DAR "is right on target."

"But the problem lies in the compensation for landowners and with the Land Bank which, in recent years, has veered away from its old mandate to assist farmers and help in the full implementation of CARP," she added.

The President was candid enough to admit that among the major concerns raised during the recent Economic Summit were the Land Bank’s vital role in helping DAR meet its targets and the social pact not to decrease the proposed budgets for agrarian reform and agriculture in 2002. However, Congress has slashed DAR’s proposed budget.