Without land reform, revolution

If there had been no land reform, a peasants’ revolution would have broken out, Agrarian Reform Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan told media persons at the Bulong-Pulungan sa Westin Philippine Plaza Tuesday. Land was a big issue during the 50s and 60s, leading farmers to join the communist movement because it promised liberation from poverty and feudal landlords. Land reform was instituted in the 70s. That was "what broke the camel‚s back," said the secretary and because of it, Luis Taruc and other leaders of the communist party "turned back to the fold of the law."

From the time the agrarian reform law was passed, a total of 6 million out of 8 million hectares of public and private lands have been divided up and distributed among 4 million farmers across the country; these farmers now have certificates of land ownership awards (CLOAS). This has been done through four schemes: stock distribution option (in which the farmers are given shares of stock and they continue to work on the land and get paid by the original owners; by compulsory acquisition where the government buys the land from the owners and gives loans to farmers to pay for the land; and through voluntary land transfer, an arrangement between landowners and farmers.

Obet said the farmers‚ lives have changed considerably under the comprehensive land reform program (CARP). Before, they earned from P60 to P80 a day from working for landlords. Now their own agriculture produce has more than doubled, and they have various sources of livelihood, such as sari-sari stores and nata de coco production. They now own Cable TV sets and are able to send their children to school. The benefits are bigger if they are members of cooperatives which are supported by DAR and the national cooperative agency.

The family of First Gentleman Mike Arroyo has voluntarily sold 965 hectares of prime land in Negros Occidental ; 700 hectares are now in the name of farmers through a 30-year amortization program with Land Bank.

The department is not only concerned with buying and distributing land; it also helps farmers raise their production by building irrigation projects, farm-to-market roads and bridges, and having access to credit. On credit facilities, Obet said farmers are likely not to avail of the 5-6 per cent loan scheme of loan sharks for buying seeds and fertilizers.

Big landowners like Danding Cojuangco and Del Monte have participated in the land reform program wherein farmers lease back properties they acquire to landowners, and are paid for working on these properties. Hacienda Luisita (sugarlands owned by the family of former President Corazon Aquino) has disposed of 6,000 hectares under the stock distribution option.

Obet has served the government as governor of Bulacan. He ran but lost in the 1990 senatorial elections. Last February he was appointed DAR secretary. He has been travelling to help in the government‚s efforts to fight poverty. Recently he launched the Palma Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan Agrarian Reform Zones in various communities in Cotabato and Sorsogon. DAR and other line agencies will be building infrastructure projects to improve farmers‚ production and earning capacities.

Lack of funds, however, is hampering the complete success of the land reform program. The law approved P50-billion for land acquisitions, but this has not been enough. Another source is a percentage of the privatization of government assets abroad – but this has not been realized.

Is he running for the Senate next year? Without blinking an eyelash, he said, "Yes." We can bet that the farmers he is helping will vote for him.

ON ANOTHER FRONT, the Ugnayan ng Kababaihan sa Pulitika (UKP), in partnership with Banahaw Sustainable Community Development Center (BSCD), is implementing a nationwide community-based micro-finance project aimed at economically empowering women. The project was launched last March during UKP’s 10th anniversary program which was attended by Local Government Secretary Joey Lina, Agriculture Secretary Luis P. Lorenzo Jr., Agrarian Reform Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan of DAR, and Karina Constantino David of the Civil Service Commission.

Daphne Roxas, executive director of UKP and BSDC, says the P18-million project trains women and children to community action for sustainable development and to organic growing of selected herbs, edible flowers and vegetables for sustenance and supplemental income.

BSDC provides the project capital and other project requirements including training and assistance in the marketing of the produce. For particulars, call 373 7902.

* * *

E-mail: [email protected]