BMFI

Nov. 22 update:
Marchers get a visit from Camarines Sur mayor

For the past several days, the Sumilao Farmers have to endure the hardship of walking under heavy rains. Because their raincoats are already worn-out and tattered, they did not escape from getting soaked and wet.

Such situation worsened the condition of the marchers who suffer from colds or cough. Also, walking along muddy roads made their pace slower.

Worse, news of a better weather is not to be expected sooner.

Fortunately, there was no rain yesterday when they left the Holy Spirit Parish in Ragay at around 4 a.m., but still, they were deprived of sunshine. With the better situation, however, their walk yesterday was easier. They were back to their usual “short talk” while traversing the road to Del Gallego, 31.4 kilometers from Ragay.

They talked about just anything. But mostly they remembered their fond memories with their families in barangay San Vicente. Sometimes, they just made fun of their situation by cracking jokes – yet, beneath their smiles and laughter was their longing to see and embrace their loved ones.

When their conversation became serious, one by one, the marchers fell silent, and the walk continued without a word being said. It was only when they reached Sta. Rita de Casia Parish in Del Gallego that they began to talk again and "break the ice", so to speak.

They arrived in Del Gallego around 12:30 p.m., where they were warmly welcomed by the parishioners and some locals from Del Gallego.

Shortly upon their arrival, the rain fell.

While waiting for the program to start, they maximized their free time to rest and attend to their personal needs. Some managed to talk and became acquainted with their hosts.

The short program started at exactly 4 p.m. Despite his busy schedule, Hon. Bayani Velez, the mayor of Del Gallego, did not miss to visit the Sumilao farmers, and personally delivered his message to them.

The good mayor said that although the people in Del Gallego do not personally know the Sumilao farmers, it does not hinder him and his constituents to give their support. According to Mayor Bayani, personal acquaintance with the person who is a victim of injustice is not necessary to entitle him full protection and support.

More than his words, Mayor Bayani provided the Sumilao farmers shelter for the night. It is the least, according to the mayor, that the people of Del Gallego can express their solidarity to the Sumilao farmers.

Such gesture was indeed a humble contribution to uplift the morale of the marchers.

Moreover, the Sumilao farmers were treated with good music. The Parish Youth Ministry rendered songs selected for and dedicated to the marchers.

Meanwhile, while the program was on going, two lady volunteer medics from Medical Action Group (MAG) and Philippine Red Cross visited the marchers, checked their blood pressures, and gave medical advice.

While they were preparing for supper, the Sumilao farmers received a package from Pakisama. To their joy, the package turned out to be new raincoats.

Their support groups include Parish Pastoral Council, Couples for Christ, Philippine Red Cross, PREC, LGU of Del Gallego, PAKISAMA and Medical Action Group.

Tomorrow and the day after that, they will continue their walk, rain or shine, until they reach Malacañang.

Call of the Sumilao Farmers:

Reform and Extend the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP)!

It has been 19 years since the enactment of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL), yet, the fruits of agrarian reform remain to be seen, or to put it squarely, now mostly belongs to Cojuangco and his hogs.

The government has reported an accomplishment of a seemingly impressive 6.4 million hectares – or 79.4 percent of the target CARP scope of 8.1 million hectares from 1972 to 2005. However, the figures were computed in such a way as to falsely depict the true situation of agrarian reform in the country. The "accomplishments" include lands with registered CLOAs but which have not been turned over to tenants. There is double counting where collective CLOAs and the individual CLOAs are both tallied. In the most brazen cases, there are CLOA holders who still do not occupy the lands. In other instances, titles which have been distributed and accounted for as accomplishment are eventually cancelled.

On top of that, the government's original target scope of 10.3 million hectares in 1988 was severely reduced in 1996 to 8.1 million hectares to accommodate large-scale exemptions and massive land conversions. More than 5.3 million hectares of land were exempted outright from CARP in 1996. The reductions in the scope of public land in turn accommodated vast tracts of government land leased or otherwise controlled by big landlords as cattle ranches, export crop plantations and logging concessions.

Taken as a whole, there are more than 10.2 million marginal farmers, tenants and farm workers, 70 percent of whom are still landless even at the closing stages of CARP.

The recent moves of President Arroyo and our legislators fail to clue us in on the President's stance with respect to CARP and on whether or not Congress may give CARP another extension: CARP has been lumped with other asset reform programs of the government such as urban land and ancestral domain instead of the usual separate chapter in the recent Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP); the target for land acquisition and distribution (LAD) of private agricultural lands has been reduced to only 100,000 hectares per year; and the legal moves by Congress to stop CARP, to wit, exemptions of big prawn farms, fish ponds and aquaculture areas from CARP coverage, foreign investors' leasing of private lands for up to 75 years, and the proposed 25-year moratorium on CARP implementation in the Mindanao region.

This indicates the Arroyo administration's abandonment of the Constitutional mandate on agrarian reform as provided in Section 4, Article XII of the Constitution, to wit:

"The State shall, by law, undertake an agrarian reform program founded on the right of farmers and regular farm workers, who are landless, to own directly or collectively the lands they till or in the case of other farm workers, to receive a just share of the fruits thereof. To this end, the State shall encourage and undertake the just distribution of all agricultural lands, subject to such priorities and reasonable retention limits as the Congress may prescribe, taking into account ecological, developmental, or equity considerations, and subject to the payment of just compensation. In determining retention limits, the State shall respect the right of small landowners. The State shall further provide incentives for voluntary land-sharing."

The struggle of the Sumilao farmers will be brought to naught unless the agrarian reform program will be extended beyond 2008 and a genuine implementation of land acquisition and distribution (LAD) will be had.