Thousands of farmers and agrarian reform advocates, members of the Reform CARP Movement, a broad alliance of small farmer organizations, farmer-based non-government organizations, coalitions, party-list organizations and agrarian reform advocates mobilized in the regional public hearings of the House of Representatives on CARP extension and registered their strong support to the passage of House Bill 1257, a bill authored by Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel of Akbayan. The Regional public hearing conducted in La Union, Dumaguete City, and Digos, Davao Del Sur.
Ka Maning Rosario of Pambansang Katipunan ng mga Samahan sa Kanayunan (PKSK) in his statement stressed that there was strong support from local farmers' groups to pass HB 1257. "We were overwhelmed with the strong support of the local farmers to push for the passing of CARP extension with reforms bill despite counter campaigns of the resisting landlords including landed Congresspersons not to extend CARP." The consultation held in Provincial Capitol of La Union was supported by more than 200 farmers and support groups. The farmers showed further strength in numbers with the Visayas and Mindanao leg of the regional consultations.
House Bill 1257 or An Act Accelerating the Completion of the Land Acquisition and Distribution Component of the CARP envisions to accelerate the implementation of the land acquisition and distribution (LAD) component by providing of at least 3.8% of the total national budget for every year thru automatic appropriation from the national budget and inclusion of necessary reform measures that will fast-track CARP implementation. The bill also provide significant support services to agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), credit facilities, securing of land titles to farmer beneficiaries, reorganization of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR); participation and social justice to farmers. A similar bill has been filed in the Senate, the Senate Bill 2047 authored by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada.
In a press statement by Mr. Jaime Tadeo of Paragos-Pilipinas in the hearing held in La Residencia, Dumaguete City he said that "The passing of these bills will positively contribute to the efficient implementation of CARP and will benefit more than one million landless farmers suffering from social injustice. Also, passing of these bills will ensure the protection of economic rights of ARBs, promote agricultural productivity and rural development."
With a little over three (3) months left before the end of CARP's funding by June 15, the LAD component of the program is still 35% short of its completion equating to more than a million of hectares land owned by the few. Thus, an intensified campaign was launched to put pressure for the lawmakers to make CARP extension possible. Ernie Lim of AR Now mentioned in the Mindanao Consultation in CAP,Digos City, Davao Del Sur, that "Twenty years down the line and just three (3) months short of its projected end of funding, CARP still has left millions of farmers landless and million hectares of land undistributed. It still has to make up for the lapses in its implementation towards achieving the objective it was envisioned for; the promotion of social justice, rural development and agricultural sustainability."
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