Posted on September 17, 2014 10:55:00 PM
A PRIORITY bill allowing the government to complete acquisition and distribution of land to beneficiaries of the agrarian reform program until June 2016 has been approved by the Senate on third and final reading.
the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) by June 30, 2016,” a statement issued by the senator said.
Section 2 of the bill amends Section 30 of Republic Act No. 9700 allowing the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to continue issuing Notices of Coverage and accept voluntary offers to sell by landowners of agricultural lands until June 30, 2016.
“The law does not, in effect, expire. It is a continuing process until the acquisition and distribution is terminated,” Mr. Honasan said in a statement.
CARP, which was first implemented in 1988 through Republic Act No. 6657, is the redistribution of public and private agricultural lands to farmers and farm workers who are landless, irrespective of tenurial arrangement.
It was extended for another five years in June 2009 through Republic Act No. 9700 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reform or CARPer.
Of the 5,466,602 hectares of land set for distribution, only 4,655,100 hectares had been awarded to farmer beneficiaries, data from the DAR said.
Agrarian reform officials also said that 29,935 hectares of land have yet to be issued Notices of Coverage, a document that indicates that the lots will be placed under agrarian reform.
In June, President Benigno S. C. Aquino III certified the bill as urgent.
“This bill is actually certified as urgent in June 2014 by Malacañang and was mentioned at the 5th State of the Nation Address of President Benigno Aquino,” Mr. Honasan said.
Meanwhile, in Davao City, a former dean of the University of the Philippines-School of Labor and Industrial Relations (UP-SOLAIR) has called for the full implementation and completion of CARP nationwide for the Philippines to compete in the ASEAN economic integration in 2015.
“For the ASEAN 2015, foreign countries can easily enter the Philippines, if that’s the case the country must be ready with its agricultural services,” Dr. Rene Ofreneo said in his presentation during the round-table discussion on Rebuilding the Damaged Philippine Agricultural Sector at the Ateneo de Davao University this week.
The former Labor undersecretary underscored the issues that must be addressed to support the country’s agricultural sector.
“Declining investments — both public and private — in agriculture have led to declining productivity, deficient value addition, and poor job creation,” he said.
Besides implementing and completing the CARP, beneficiaries must also be introduced to modern agricultural practices.
Mr. Ofreneo said lack of modernization and diversification will not allow the Philippine agricultural sector to compete in the ASEAN market.
“The lack of industrialization and mechanization as well as the absence of urban-rural linkages have made the Philippine agricultural sector an easy prey to unfair trade practices, which are further aggravated by the unilateral liberalization being undertaken by this administration,” he said.
“How can we be ready for regional integration when we do not even have the industrial policy in support of agri-industrialization to calibrate trade policies and negotiations?” — ADG
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