Tuesday, October 21, 2008 [ manilatimes.net ]
By Efren L. Danao, Senior Reporter
The Senate Committee on Agrarian Reform headed by Sen. Gregorio Honasan 3rd has endorsed the extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) until 2013 with a total budget of P147 billion.
The CARP lapsed on June 17 after the Department of Agrarian Reform failed to provide the Honasan committee with documents demanded by senators “to avoid the mistakes of the past.” The expiration of CARP meant the Agrarian Reform department could not engage in land acquisition and distribution and could only concentrate on providing extension services to existing beneficiaries.
Senate President Manuel Villar, one of the authors of the bill extending CARP, acknowledged that the implementation of the program was not properly carried out and monitored, resulting in its non-completion after 20 years.
“But despite this assertion, the land acquisition and distribution component of the CARP should not be abandoned since it will have a great impact on social justice, poverty alleviation and rural development,” he said.
Three phases
Phase One of land acquisition and distribution will cover all lands under Presidential Decree 27, or lands voluntarily offered for sale by private owners, idle and abandoned lands, and all lands foreclosed by the Presidential Commission on Good Government and government financial institutions. This phase ends December 31, 2010.
Phase Two, which also ends December 31, 2010, involves the acquisition and distribution of all alienable and disposable public agricultural lands; all arable public agricultural lands under agro-forest, pasture and agricultural leases already cultivated and planted to crops in accordance with Section 6, Article Xlll of the Constitution; and all public agricultural lands which are to be opened for new development and resettlement.
Phase Three covers all other private agricultural lands under the following schedule: landholdings above 24 hectares up to 50 hectares, to begin on January 1, 2011 and to be completed by December 31, 2012, and landholdings from the retention limit up to 24 hectares, to begin on January 1, 2012 and to be completed by December 31, 2013.
The third phase will not be implemented until at least 90 percent of the total land covered by the first two phases have been acquired and distributed.
After the completion of the land acquisition and distribution component of CARP, the yearly appropriation will be allocated exclusively for support services, agrarian justice delivery and other land tenure regulatory functions.
The bill also seeks to increase the funding for support services from 25 percent to 40 percent of all appropriations for CARP.
The consolidated bill is authored by Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Rodolfo Biazon, Loren Legarda, Francis Escudero, Juan Ponce Enrile, Honasan and Villar.
