Govt should review all properties exempted from land reform program

MANILA, Philippines - A farmer-based policy research group recommended that the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) should “review the status of all lands that have been exempted" from the government’s land reform program. In a statement, Centro Saka Inc. (CSI) said that a Department of Justice Opinion No. 44 Series of 1990, has exempted all lands “reclassified as residential, commercial, and industrial" prior to June 15, 1988, the day when the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL) was enacted. “If the review reveals that most of these lands have remained undeveloped and are still agricultural in nature, these lands should be immediately distributed under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP)," said CSI Executive Director Romeo Royandoyan. The group also said that politicians who were in a position to stop agricultural land use conversion should also be held accountable. “Real estate developers are among the main culprits in the conversion of prime agricultural lands. Senator Manny Villar, whose family is in the real estate business, should be asked about what he was able to do to protect the prime agricultural sector from land conversion especially during his term as Chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food during the 13th Congress," the group said. “We can only hope that he did not protect the interest of the real estate developers at the expense of the agricultural sector and the small farmers," the group added. - Robert JA Basilio Jr, GMANews.TV