(The Philippine Star) Updated August 07, 2009 12:00 AM [ philstar.com ]
MANILA, Philippines - President Arroyo is set to sign in Bulacan today the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) extension law, which was passed on third reading by the Joint Congress bicameral committee last month in Plaridel, Bulacan.
The measure is a consolidated version of the bill extending the CARP for another five years.
“The CARP Extension with Reforms (CARPER) Bill is the government’s reply to the pleas of farmers and workers in the agricultural sector for more time to fully implement the CARP, which expired June last year,” a Palace statement said.
The signing at 10 a.m. today at the Don Ceasario San Diego Gym in Plaridel town will see proponents from both the Senate and the House of Representatives joining the President and Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman to enact the bill into law.
The CARP, the land redistribution scheme mandated by Republic Act 6657 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988, expired in December 2008, at which time Congress adopted a joint resolution extending the CARP for six more months, or until June 2009, to allow the Department of Agrarian Reform to continue its mandated tasks pending the enactment of a new law to extend the program.
Under the CARPER Bill, P100 billion has been allocated for land acquisition and distribution, support services, agrarian justice delivery, and other funding requirements during the extension period. – Paolo Romero, Katherine Adraneda
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