President Marcos Jr. faces his second-year mark since his instatement but the agricultural sector of the Philippines continues to suffer and face adversities due to lack of proper and genuine agricultural plans.
36 years have passed since the enactment of Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in 1988 to redistribute agricultural lands to the tillers yet they still sing for genuine land reform.
CARP gives landowners a retention limit of five land hectares while agrarian reform beneficiaries receive three land hectares under the condition of paying the government within 30 years with a six percent interest per annum. The qualified beneficiaries, such as landless farmers, tenant farmers, agricultural workers, as well as regular or seasonal farm workers, will receive a certificate of land ownership award (CLOAs).
The program is supposedly a 10-year period of land distribution from 1988 but extended to decades long due to the incompleteness of distributing lands to agrarian reform beneficiaries.
In 2020, the Department of Agriculture (DAR) claimed that 4.9 million hectares have benefited 2.8 million landless farmers since its enactment in 1988.
HR VIOLATIONS IN CARP
CARP maintains land monopoly through various schemes like stock distribution and land conversion. Stock distribution enables the sharing of stocks with farmers that will not lessen the lands of landowners while land conversion transforms lands into industrial or residential areas.
In 1989, farmers 'owned' 33.2% of stocks in Hacienda Luisita through the stock distribution option however they did not receive their rightful benefits which led to strikes demanding them of their rights until the massacre of agricultural workers in 2004 committed by state forces.
In Lupang Tartaria, the Aguinaldos and Ayalas have attempted to barricade the farmlands and prevent farmers from tilling last April 3. Farmers have faced relentless harassment and intimidation by them including the cases of burning the farmland itself, stealing their animals, and other damage to agricultural property.
In Hacienda Roxas, the government promised around 3000 hectares to the farmer beneficiaries. However, they are being ordered to leave from their own awarded lands by the Roxas and Company, Inc.
Numerous farmers continue to experience dispossession of lands like the agrarian disputes in Bulacan, Hacienda Murcia, Anunas in Angeles City, and Lupang Ramos in Cavite, among other cases.
CALLS FOR GENUINE LAND REFORM
Peasant groups marked the 36th anniversary of Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) with calls for genuine land reform amidst agricultural monopoly and land-grabbing in front of the Department of Agriculture (DAR) on June 10.
Kilusang Mabubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) condemned CARP as 'fake' and 'bogus' because the program failed to properly redistribute lands to farmer beneficiaries. The organization further regarded the program as "the longest-running, most expensive, and repressive land reform program enacted by the government".
"Our farmers still struggle for ownership of their land, and these so-called reforms have only intensified violations against peasant communities," Amihan Chairperson Zen Soriano said in a statement.
Peasant group SAKA remains in solidarity with the movement of instating genuine land reform and repealing exploitative reform programs.
KASAMA - TK and KMP further advocated for the passage of House Bill 1161 or the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) that had been pending for the past 16 years despite earning a vast support from the agricultural sector.
GARB aims to give free land distribution to all landless farmers, farmer beneficiaries, and informally employed agricultural workers in contrast to CARP's screening and amortization process.
Amihan further reiterated their calls for genuine land reform in a recent peasant group protest on July 1, and abhorred Marcos Jr's embracement of neoliberal policies that serve the interest of foreign entities and capitalist agents.
"Habang lumalala ang krisis pang-ekonomiya sa bansa dahil sa pagsandig ni Marcos sa mga dayuhan, dapat magkaisa ang mga magsasaka at mamamayan para labanan ito. Suportahan ang mga magsasaka at kababaihang magbubukid para ipaglaban ang kanilang karapatan sa lupa at panawagang tunay na reporma sa lupa at rural development," Amihan said.
: Eryza Mae Dris
: Michael Dave, Google Photos
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