Bishops Meet PGMA on CARPER, Farmers Hold Sitdown Strike In Congress

With less than 9 session days left before Congress adjournment on June 3, 5 Catholic Bishops, Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, Bishop Bernardino Cortez, Quezon Bishop Buenaventura Famadico, Masbate Bishop Joel Baylon, and Samar Bishop Emmanuel Trance, met with President Arroyo yesterday at Malacanang to press for the enactment of the CARPER Bill at the House (House Bill 4077) and at the Senate (Senate Bill 2666).  House Speaker Prospero Nograles and Senator Gringo Honasan, representing the House of Representatives and the Senate, respectively, and DAR Secretary Nasser Pangandaman, were also present during the meeting where the bishops wanted the government leaders to shed light on the status of the CARPER Bill. 

This is the second time that the Catholic Bishops met with the President to ask her to help push for the passage of the law wherein the President promised the fast enactment of the CARPER Bill in both chambers of Congress.  This time, the Bishops were exasperated as the farmers regarding the recent status of the CARPER Bill, especially in the House of Representatives where no deliberation on the bill has been made yet.  “Laganap na ang kawalan ng pag-asa sa ating mga magsasaka sa kanayunan.  Kung hindi natin isasabatas at ipapatupad ng maayos ang CARPER maaaring mahikayat sila na mag-armas at mapilitang gumamit ng karahasan,” said Bishop Pabillo.  The other Catholic Bishops also shared the recent unfortunate experiences of violence committed against the farmers especially in the provinces and the rural areas.

When the Bishops asked House Speaker Nograles on the possibility of enactment of House Bill 4077, the solon merely answered “Maipapasa yan kasi priority bill yan ng Kongreso at walang priority bill na hindi naipasa.  You should  trust us.”  The Speaker also explained that the House is only waiting for the Senate’s enactment of the CARPER Bill, and once the Senate version of the bill is passed the Congress might just adopt the version in Congress to speed up the process.  The Bishops also asked DAR Secretary Pangandaman on the status of land acquisition but the Secretary, as usual, begged off from answering the question for lack of sufficient data and knowledge on the matter.  The Bishops also noted that during the meeting, the President was unusually quiet the whole time and merely allowed the legislators to answer their queries.

Meanwhile, the Senate continued to deliberate on the committee and individual amendments to SB 2666.  Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago supported the committee’s efforts in connection with the bill but added 2 points: (1) land conversion of agricultural lands shall take into account the tiller’s rights; and (2) access to credit by farmers should be ensured.  Sen. Joker Arroyo also made several comments on the committee amendments, among which are the following: (1) the broad power of the DAR to order the Register of Deeds on titles involving CLOAs and too much discretion being given to a corrupt bureaucracy that has failed to implement the CARP effectively; (2) transferability of awarded lands after the 10 year prohibition; (3) the DAR’s exclusive jurisdiction in agrarian cases vis-à-vis the regular courts; and (4) the continuing appropriations for CARP.  Sen. Migs Zubiri also threatened the senate that nothing will happen to the future of agrarian reform if the legislature will not introduce large-scale farms and mechanization.  The senator stubbornly insisted on legislating the reconsolidation of agricultural lands after the 10-year period.

Farmers Upset by Non-Prioritization of CARPER at the Lower House; Staged a Sit-Down Strike

At the House of Representatives, farmers from farmer organizations and federations PAKISAMA, PKSK, PKKK, PARAGOS and KATARUNGAN, and other farmer groups which are members of the Reform CARP Movement (RCM) together with the farmers from Sumilao, Banasi and Calatagan, attended the session and waited patiently for the Representatives to finally discuss CARPER but to no avail. A few minutes before 7:00 pm when the session was about to end, the farmers decided to manifest their indignation at the way they were being disregarded and the CARPER bill deliberations were being delayed. They staged a sit down strike in front of the entrance of the session hall of the House of Representatives to press for the enactment of House Bill 4077.  Further, the 25 farmers from Sumilao, Banasi and Calatagan—who have been fervently campaigning for the passage of the CARPER Bill for the longest time, were very frustrated on the way the CARPER Bill has been disregarded in the House of Representatives.

There are only eight session days left before Congress adjourns on June 3, yet the CARPER Bill has been scheduled as only the fourth priority bill after the Salary Standardization Law (SSL), Corporate Farming Bill, and the Charter-Change Measure.  Speaker Nograles has made several public pronouncements since last year that the CARPER bill will be enacted as this bill has been certified as urgent. The farmers are still hanging on to the Speaker’s commitment to the Catholic Bishops yesterday that the House will fast track enactment of the CARPER bill and his promise to Cong. Edcel Lagman that House Bill 4077 will be part of today’s agenda and will be deliberated on at the House. This, after the good Cong. Lagman from Albay, talked to the House Leadership on behalf of the farmers who have been repeatedly disappointed by the Speaker.

The farmers vowed to remain vigilant and to continuously campaign for the enactment of this essential measure, without the amendments meant to water down and reverse the gains of the program. Today, farmers from Sumilao, Banasi, and Calatagan, together with other farmers groups will push on to the House of Representatives and the Senate to lobby for the CARPER bill.