Negros Occidental landholdings on top of distribution list

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — Almost 150,000 hectares of land in Negros Occidental province have yet to be distributed under land reform, the biggest balance under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). Only 126,000 hectares have so far been distributed to Negrense farmer beneficiaries, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said. Nationwide, there are still 1.3 million hectares, mostly private agricultural lands above 60 hectares, that have yet to be distributed under the 20-year program. Yet sugar workers and other groups here are divided on their views on the fate of the CARP that expired Tuesday. While broad coalition Negros CARP Reform Movement and other organizations are pushing for the program’s extension, militant labor group National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) and its allied groups are condemning CARP as a fake program that should be put to a stop. "Our call is to junk CARP. We say no to CARP extension," NFSW Spokesman Isidro Castillo said during a rally at the Bacolod plaza. Mr. Castillo claimed there was no genuine land reform in the last 20 years. "Instead, CARP has brought us many problems," he said, citing the killings of several NFSW leaders who had pushed for CARP’s genuine implementation. The latest casualty was Armando Dolorosa of Hacienda Merian in Barangay San Pablo, Manapla, who was gunned down at his residence only last Friday. Mr. Castillo said CARP is also an instrument of the government to subdue the struggle for unionism. "We demand for higher wages, benefits, job security, support services and farm lots. But with the implementation of CARP, workers have been dislocated because the employee-employer relationship no longer exists and the collective bargaining agreement is abolished," he said. On the other hand, Fr. Rodrigo Anoran, Jr., executive director of the Negros Center for People’s Empowerment (NCPE), a nongovernmental organization assisting farmer-beneficiaries, said they are pushing for the extension of CARP. Workers in the haciendas will have nothing to hope for if there is no land reform, he added. The Negros CARP Reform Movement, represented by Renato Bañas and Emmanuel Alano, said they are appealing to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to call for a special session to pass the extension law. "CARP’s fate now rests in the hands of President Arroyo. She promised the farmers that she would fully support the extension of CARP. She certified the extension bill as urgent when there was very little time to pass it, after delays in the legislative process. The farmers are waiting and praying for her to do more," the group said in a statement. Congress was set to adjourn yesterday without enacting a new land reform law, while Malacañang said it sees no need to call for a special session since changes to the law can be taken up when Congress opens its second regular session in July. The employees of the Provincial Agrarian Reform Office (PARO) also joined the call to extend the CARP by holding a noise barrage at noon on Tuesday, while the NFSW and their allied groups were holding a rally outside their office in Dawis, Bacolod City. With raised clenched fists, the employees led by PARO Head Teresita Depeñoso shouted, "We support CARP beyond 2008." She said their employees are joining the call to extend CARP for another five years to enable them to complete distributing lands in Negros Occidental. She said DAR-Negros Occidental would focus on land distribution under the voluntary offer to sell scheme, and to those with issued notices of coverage. For 2008, the province has funds for the acquisition of an additional 4,000 hectares, she added. — Nanette L. Guadalquiver, BusinessWorld