CARPER Principal Author Snobs Signing of Law

AKBAYAN Rep. Risa Hontiveros, one of the principal authors of the CARP Extension with Reform Bill, snubbed the signing of the measure in Plaridel, Bulacan today and challenged the GMA administration to distribute the Arroyo lands the moment the bill is enacted.

“What is so significant about today? This could have been signed more than a year ago had the administration exercised political will in pushing for the passage of the bill,” Rep. Hontiveros said.

“She should not claim that this is her legacy to the farmers. The bill was approved not because of Arroyo but despite the attempts of the Arroyos and their allies in the administration bloc to kill the bill,” she added.

“If it were not for the perseverance and persistence of the farmers this would not have been approved. The extended and reformed agrarian reform law is the legacy of the farmers to the Filipino people,” Rep. Hontiveros said.

She said that the sincerity of Arroyo would not be measured by the signing but by the immediate distribution of the Arroyo lands in Negros.

“We challenge her to order the distribution of the 1000-hectare properties of the Arroyos in Negros. The program has been resuscitated, it has been reformed, and the government has no excuses anymore,” she said.

“That will be the real barometer of her sincerity. She has to distribute the lands of her own family, and pave the way for the redistribution of more than 1 million hectares of private landholdings,” Rep. Hontiveros added.###