Tuesday, December 23, 2008 Palace seeks dialogue on Carp extension
A MALACAÑANG official said Monday a dialogue between the farmers and the members of Congress should be conducted to clear any misunderstanding on the proposed Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (Carp) extension.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said the Palace supports and will push for a dialogue because it is important that the call and concerns of the farmers are heard directly by the lawmakers that would craft the bill.
"Congress and DAR (Department of Agrarian Reform) need to do their homework and decide in the best interest of the farmers," she said.
Fajardo added that Carp also needs to undergo a thorough review to determine its flaws and whether it just needs to be revised or if a new agrarian reform law should be drafted instead.
Congress passed a joint resolution extending Carp by six months instead of five years as earlier proposed. It aims to prevent the stop of the Carp program with the Carp law set to lapse on December 31, and at the same time give Congress more time to come up with an improved agrarian reform law.
On allegations that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Pampanga Representative Juan Miguel Arroyo were behind the six-month extension on the alleged prodding of landlords, Fajardo said an agrarian reform is an advocacy of the late President Diosdado Macapagal, which the Arroyos want to continue.
Macapagal is the father and grandfather of the President and Congressman Arroyo, respectively.
"President Diosdado Macapagal's legacy was his crusade for genuine agrarian reform. The President and her family are committed to continuing this legacy. This accusation is untrue," Fajardo said.
The lawyers of Task Force Mapalad, however, are planning to question the joint resolution passed by Congress which extends Carp by six months, claiming that it is violative of the Constitution as it only extends the funding and drops the land acquisition aspect.
They also said that the six months extension favors more the landlords than the farmers.
Prior to the passage of the joint resolution, the Carp law initially expired on June 13, but a congressional joint resolution declaring and clarifying that agrarian reform program would expire in December 2008 was passed in August, allowing the land distribution aspect to continue.
President Arroyo in June initially certified as urgent the measure extending the Carp Law for another five years. She again certified as urgent the then proposed joint resolution last week. (JMR/Sunnex)
