Saturday, April 12, 2008 CBCP asks anew for Carp extension
THE Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) reiterated their appeal to Congress to pass a bill to extend the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (Carp) and to institute reforms that would benefit poor farmers in the country.
In a letter to Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. signed by more than 30 bishops, including CBCP president Angel Lagdameo and Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, they claimed the urgency to enact the law that would prolong Carp.
"We are writing to manifest our appeal to the honorable members of Congress, the urgency of passing a bill to extend Carp and institute progressive reforms that would truly benefit our poor farmers who remain landless, barely able to eke out a decent living from one day to the next," they said.
The bishops also asked the lawmakers to include some of their recommendations in the bill:
* Mandate for direct and physical distribution of all agricultural lands, as opposed to non-distributive schemes;
* Address policy and implementation problems that are obstacles to the completion of the program;
* The establishment of the needed implementation structure for Carp's completion;
* The requisite appropriations of a least P50 billion;
* Ensure strengthened credit and support services to farmer beneficiaries; and
* Congressional monitoring and oversight with major Carp stakeholders of Carp implementation and the Department of Agrarian Reform's (DAR) performance.
"We fervently pray that agrarian reform, through reformed Carp, be placed at the center of our country's agricultural development, transformation and competitiveness," the bishops said.
They added that since the program has yielded real benefits and is constitutional imperative, it should be fully and properly implemented.
"Poverty is still very much with us. Not because of Carp but because it has not been fully and properly implemented," they said.
The bishops said Carp was enacted as a social justice measure to address the inequity of over concentration of land ownership.
However, they said after so many years 1.3 million hectares of Carpable lands remain undistributed, which include large parcels of land owned by those who are resisting the program.
The CBCP said since farming is the main source of food production particularly in the rural communities, the government should focus on giving them what they need, which is a land to till.
"The issue of land, is therefore, closely linked to the capacity to feed oneself, the family and the nation," they added.
