Monday, June 16, 2008 [ philstar.com ]
Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. belied allegations that senators were favoring landowners in refusing to act on the extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) before the sine die adjournment of Congress last June 11.
“The CARP is still in the committee level in the Senate. The difference in our position from the House is that senators do not want to approve this without questions asked, particularly on where the funds went and where they would go (once CARP is extended),” Villar said.
He said it would be better for CARP and other important measures to wait rather than rush and sacrifice their quality.
“CARP has been there for 20 years, maybe we need to pause for a while and see if the new CARP will finally solve the problems (of the landless),” he said.
Villar said it was unacceptable that the budget for agrarian reform dwindled without real reforms.
“Some funds were even stolen,” he said.
Villar supported Sen. Gregorio Honasan, chairman of the Senate committee on agrarian reform, in explaining that the CARP is valid until the end of 2008.
He clarified over radio station dwIZ the other day that the House of Representatives’ Joint Resolution 21, which maintains “the effectivity of the land acquisition and distribution component of Republic Act 6657 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988 until Dec. 31, 2008,” did not reach the Senate for action before adjournment.
Speaker Prospero Prospero Nograles filed the resolution after conferring with the top legal minds of the House and the proponents of the measure extending CARP for another five years.
Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile stressed that they were not being “pro-landed” in refusing to rush the extension of CARP.
He said they just wanted to make sure that support services would be in place so that those who would receive land would be productive.
He said it is important to evaluate the people who would be given land so as not to waste public funds in acquiring them for distribution.
Enrile, Senators Joker Arroyo and Panfilo Lacson agreed that funds should be allotted for support services rather than land acquisition so farmers would be able to produce more.
Villar said, “We need to scrutinize this, ask for information and decide what kind of extension (must be done).”
“If all the mistakes had been corrected before this was extended by another 10 years (in 1998), land reform would be complete by now. But under the present system, there is no mechanism to account for the money being spent for the program, so nothing happened after all these years,” he said.
“We cannot extend that for another 10 years, but if it is still wrong, then nothing will happen. We must make sure we have the right CARP this time,” he added.
Villar said they could not be forced to approve CARP with their “eyes closed” as some people would want them to do.
Nograles said while the House position could have been legally stronger if the Senate acted favorably on his resolution, “this does not remove the fact that the land acquisition and distribution component of CARP has funding that would only expire on Dec. 31, as provided by the General Appropriations Act of 2008.”
Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr. lashed out at the senators, saying, “They did not have the balls to decide on the highly sensitive issue and side with the interest of small farmers against the landlords.”
House Majority Leader Arthur Defensor said their Joint Resolution should not be treated as a useless document, contrary to what the militants and opposition stalwarts have been projecting.
Nograles said only the Supreme Court, being the “final arbiter” of all disputes, can invalidate the resolution.
“In the meantime, the government has the option to continue carrying out land acquisition and distribution for agrarian reform beneficiaries,” he said.
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