PGMA to Sign CARPER Bill in Bulacan

PLARIDEL, Bulacan (PND)- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is scheduled to sign here tomorrow (Friday, Aug. 7) the consolidated version of the bill extending the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) by another five years.

The CARP Extension with Reforms (CARPER) Bill is the government’s reply to the pleas of farmers and workers n the agricultural sector for more time to fully implement the CARP, which expired June last year.

The signing, which will be held 10 a.m. at the Don Ceasario San Diego Gym, will see proponents from both the Senate  and the House of Representatives joining the President and Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman, enact the bill into law.

CARP, the land redistribution scheme mandated by Republic Act No. 6657, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988, expired in December 2008. At that time, Congress adopted a joint resolution extending the CARP for six more months, or until June 2009, to allow the Department of Agrarian Reform to continue its mandated asks pending the enactment of a new law to extend the operation of the program.

Under the CARPER Bill, P100-billion has been allocated as outlay for land acquisition and distribution, support services, agrarian justice delivery, and other funding requirements during the extension period.

The bill likewise covers all public and private agricultural lands as provided in Proclamation 131 and Executive Order No. 29, including other lands of the public domain suitable for agriculture. The measure stipulates that prioritization of coverage is not necessary  and that after June 30, 2009, the modes of acquisition will be limited to voluntary offer to sell and compulsory acquisition.

The bill further provides for the creation of a joint congressional oversight committee to be composed of three members each from the Senate and the House.