Congress to check deficiencies in CARP

MANILA, Philippines - Congress is not about to rush passage of a new land reform law, and if a pending review of the extended old fiat will show deficiencies in its implementation the country might end up not having a vital legislation in place. Beating the end-December deadline before the two-decade-old law lapses, Congress, approving a joint resolution that has the force and effect of law, extended until June 30, 2009 the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) before adjourning on Wednesday. The extended law excluded compulsory land acquisition for distribution to beneficiaries. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said Thursday that the six-month review will allow closer scrutiny of allegations that the law failed to reach intended beneficiaries. "We want to know whether the people who acquired the lands were really tillers of the soil We have strong suspicion that many of the lands taken were not really productive agricultural lands and they were taken simply because they were supposed to be big landed estates and they were cut up and distributed to people," Mr. Enrile told the weekly Kapihan sa Senado forum. He added the chamber will not endorse the program’s extension if the Agrarian Reform department will confirm the allegations. "In that case we would discontinue the CARP. It would be silly to continue the law that is not beneficial to the country," he added. Mr. Enrile said they are willing to lengthen the six-month extension if only to complete studies on the law. For its part, the House leadership will not agree to the holding of a special session to approve a new five-year CARP. Speaker Prospero C. Nograles Thursday said it was impossible for both chambers to approve a new CARP due to wide differences on land acquisition. Cure inherent defects "We will use the six months extension to craft an entirely new land reform which would answer to the needs of the times considering the global economic challenges We must cure the inherent defects of the law especially in its implementation," he said in a statement. Majority Leader and Iloilo Rep. Arthur D. Defensor, Sr. (3rd district) said the joint resolution’s approval has effectively blocked chances to hold a special session. "If [the resolution] wasn’t passed, then we can call for a special session," he said in an interview. The extended CARP will complete the unfinished tasks of voluntary-offer-to-sell and voluntary land transfer, scheme where landowners will offer lands to farmer beneficiaries on a voluntary basis. Akbayan party-list Rep. Ana Theresia N. Hontiveros-Baraquel, an author of the new CARP under House Bill 4077, said she has written Mr. Nograles urging him to request President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to call a special session of Congress for the priority bill’s approval. The bill also seeks a P50-billion annual budget for five years for a total of P250 billion, and congressional oversight powers for on land acquisition and distribution program. The Constitution gave the President the authority to call for special congressional sessions to approve priority legislation. — BusinessWorld