Farmers stake out Nograles on stalled CARP extension bill

MORE than 100 farmers staged a sit-down strike at the office of House Speaker Prospero Nograles yesterday in frustration over what they called delaying tactics by the House majority and the Negros bloc to stall the bill extending the life of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

Both the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines and Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros urged President Arroyo yesterday to call Congress to a special session to pass the extension bill, saying that Arroyo had done it before in the budget bill and she can do it again for CARP.

On Wednesday, Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Marañon halted the progress of the extension bill by questioning the quorum, pushing the farmers to stake out Nograles' office.

"Ang nangyari kagabi, pagka-tapos ng tatlong interpellation hanggang tuluyan in-adjourn at sinuspinde ang quorum, sobra silang (farmers) nabigla, dapat natapos na ngayong linggo (ang CARP extension bill) para makapag-bicameral kasama ang Senado, parang tuluyan nang nawala ng pag-asa," Hontiveros said.

"Ngayon ipit na sa panahon, nanawagan ang Akbayan dahil sa holiday economics, kung sakaling di sasapat para tapusin ang trabaho namin sa Kongreso na magkaroon ng extra session."

Nograles had promised that morning to have extra sessions to pass the bill but said it still depends on the Senate if it will pass a counterpart bill. Yesterday, he said he is ready to call for an extra session. "We have three more sessions, June 9 was declared a holiday, our last session is on Wednesday June 11, pag nagkabitin-bitin yan, we would have extra sessions.

"We have a big problem, you know there is a very, very big debate whether or not to extend CARP. It has been so controversial, that mere extension without correcting some limitations and defects would be same as accepting the errors in the last 20 years. If we accept so many proposals and amendments, we will not be able to meet the deadline. Are we going to simply renew without saying anything about he defects or improve it and provide more support services? That is the dilemma," Nograles said.

He maintained that there is no "actual opposition" and Malacañang is not railroading the bill's passage as hinted by Senate president Manuel Villar who said President Arroyo's certification of the extension bill as urgent is an obvious strategy to do away with the questions on the budget that needs to be allocated the program once it is extended.

Villar also said CARP can be tackled in the next Congress and DAR has enough funds for CARP for the rest of 2008 even if the program is allowed to expire this month.

DAR Secretary Nasser Pangan-daman said, "We are not affected, even if the CARP extension bill would not be passed before the deadline. The land reform program would continue. What we are extending here is the land acquisition and distribution and support services. Tuloy-tuloy lang kami, meron nang P40 billion this year for the next months. We are confident in meeting our target in distributing lands this year."

But farmers' group Task Force Mapalad insisted that failure to pass the bill before Congress adjourns on June 13 would give big landowners a lot of elbow room to "proceed with their pending applications for conversion, and technically there is nothing to stop them because the law against conversion of agricultural lands does not exist anymore."

Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, one of the senators not keen on extending CARP's life, meanwhile asked DAR to provide the Senate a full report on CARP beneficiaries since the program's implementation in 1988. He challenged those calling for CARP's extension to a debate on the efficacy of the program. He said he wants to know if productivity increased or diminished on the CARP distributed lands.

"Iyong mga proponents ng extension, kung gusto nila, I am ready. We will debate it publicly. I don't think they can answer the questions that we will be asking. At saka gusto kong malaman kung ano ba ang gusto ninyong mga lupa? Ano'ng production nila noon, ano'ng production nila ngayon? Hindi nila kayang ipaliwanag yan. Dahil sa aking paniningin, I want to be proven wrong, iyong production noong mga kinuha nilang mga lupa, bumaba hindi tumaas," Enrile said.

Fellow administration senator Juan Miguel Zubiri however said there is no need to debate the proposal with 1.2 million hectares of land still up for acquisition and distribution, including 660,000 hectares of landholdings measuring 60 hectares and above. These are the areas where the social justice issue is critical, Zubiri said.

"When Malacañang issues the required certification, Congress must swiftly act to pass an amendment before June 10, 2008 and the best option to achieve this is by approving a simple extension of the program similar to RA 8532 (which extended CARP funding for another five years). There is simply no more time for thorough debates, Congress is pressed for time for inaction on the issue during the past year," he said.

Zubiri, however, said he is for a revamp of DAR before a CARP extension. He said this will ensure that the extension will not go to waste due to "inept" DAR officers and staff.

Enrile also said he wants a full accounting of the vast tracts of land that were placed under CARP. He said many of the lands bought under CARP were mountainous ones ("bundok binili nila") not suited to food production.

Sen. Joker Arroyo, who was executive secretary under President Corazon Aquino when CARP was initiated, said Malacañang's urgent certification of the extension would not change things in the Senate. He criticized DAR for its failure to pay for lands acquired under CARP and the non-implementation of support services for beneficiaries like credit facilitation, road access for produce, storage facilities and others. He also said there is no money for an extended CARP. "Where will we get the P160 billion - 12 percent of our national budget - that DAR is asking for? CARP, under the law, must be funded with funds from ill-gotten wealth cases. It has dried up. Malacañang is supporting the wrong cause, riding on an emotional but foolhardy issue."

Philippine National Farmers Council president Jaime Tadeo said, "Siyam na araw kami umaattend. Dadating 3:30 pm tapos 4 pm roll call, tapos babanat ng privilege, individual at collective. Tapos walang katapusan na interpellation. Pa-pasok si Marañon. Ka-hapon, napuno na ang salop. May marching order na tatapusin na ito. Magkakaroon ng amendment at botohan, kaya siningil namin siya kagabi. Siyam na araw kami naghintay, ngayon lumalaban na kaming parang kalabaw, susugod na kami at manunuwag."